


Error Unknown

by WayWardWonderer



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bleeding, Bug, Deviants, Disease, Fever, Gen, Hacked, Infection, Overheating, Plague, Rescue, Virus, code, dying, epidemic, error, failure - Freeform, glitch - Freeform, ill, internal bleeding, program, saved - Freeform, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 39,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23204344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WayWardWonderer/pseuds/WayWardWonderer
Summary: A strange error begins to take out the deviants in the city leaving them very sick and weak. Without androids the city grinds to a halt and Lieutenant Hank Anderson must work the case to save not only innocent deviant lives, but to save Connor's life as well after the young detective becomes infected.
Relationships: Hank and Connor - Father and Son, Josh/Simon (Detroit: Become Human), Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 58
Kudos: 138





	1. Infected

A rainy morning greeted the two detectives as they set about their usual routines at the house before heading out to the precinct to begin their shifts. While Connor let Sumo back inside the house through the backdoor and poured the massive dog some fresh food into his bowl Hank lumbered down the hallway and into the kitchen in search of his much needed coffee. Running his right hand through his freshly showered locks of gray hair Hank gave Connor a casual silent wave as he walked over to the pot of freshly brewed coffee, and poured himself a generous amount into his mug before adding an equally generous amount of sugar and sweetener into the otherwise bitter drink.

"You should reduce your sugar consumption for your own health benefit." Connor warned as he ran his right hand down Sumo's back and stood upright to straighten his black tie around the collar of his white dress shirt. As his blue L.E.D. pulsed calmly in his right temple the deviant gave the senior detective some additional unsolicited advice regarding his diet. "Or cut out the excessive caffeine altogether."

"Let me give you a priceless piece of advice regarding humans, kid." Sipping the heavily sweetened coffee with a single slow and savoring taste Hank turned around to face Connor and gave the young deviant a stern glance. "NEVER get between humans and caffeine, especially if said human has a gun."

Connor's blue L.E.D. flashed to yellow momentarily at he took Hank's advice to heart. "...Noted."

"Now," finishing off his coffee quickly Hank put the now empty mug down in the sink next to the counter and pointing to the front door and motioned for Connor to head on out so they could make their way to the precinct. "let's get downtown and sift through all the bullshit cases that I know are going to be waiting for us."

"What makes you say that, Hank?"

"With New Jericho now making public statements about the sanctuary, android rights and about how androids won't be fleeing the city just because of a few loud mouthed bigots I know we're going to end up meeting a few deviants reporting cases of assault and threats more often than not."

"Interesting..." Standing still in the middle of the kitchen with a curious look on his face Connor's blue L.E.D. again blinked in yellow before returning to blue. Trailing after Hank through the livingroom and to the front door Connor gave the senior detective a curious glance. "It appears you are correct."

"How so?" Pulling open the front door with his right hand Hank spun the car keys around by the keyring on his left index fingertip. "Please don't tell me we have to investigate a murder. It's too damn early for that shit."

"No, there wasn't a murder but there has been an unusual string of deviants being found covered in their own Thirium and suffering from catastrophic damage to their processors, as well as their bodies."

"...Assault?"

"Unknown."

"Fan-fuckin'-tastic." Sighing loudly Hank stepped out the front door with Connor right behind him as he tossed the car keys over his shoulder to the deviant so Connor could drive while Hank continued to wake up. "Just what we need. A bunch of bloody bodies and no information on who, or what, caused it."

* * *

New Jericho Tower was abuzz with the four leaders of the sanctuary; Markus, North, Josh and Simon, going about their own morning routines as the group prepared for the day's events and their inevitable tasks that they'd need to handle in order to keep their people safe. While a majority of the deviants who had been found covered in their own Thirium throughout the night had resided outside the tower and within their own personal dwellings throughout the city, a frightening handful of deviants inside the tower had also been found in the same macabre, and lethally damaged manner.

"Any update on the condition of our affected deviants?" Markus asked as he walked with Simon to the tower's emergency repair ward to check in on their wounded people. As Simon had stepped up as New Jericho's lead technician it seemed as though all of the pressure of finding the cause and subsequent solution for the affected deviants was riding solely on his shoulders. "How many of our people have been taken down?"

"We're looking at twenty-nine total victims." Simon confirmed as he and Markus stepped out of the elevator and through the automatic sliding doors into the repair bay to check in on the seven victims seeking treatment at the dispensary rather than facilities throughout the city. "All of the symptoms and subsequent effects are all the same, yet we can't find a single cause to link them all together."

"Damn." Peering down at the blank face of the nearest deviant; his artificial skin completely receded from the catastrophic Thirium loss and a twin tube snaked down his throat to try to replenish what Thirium he lost and provide cool air to keep his core from overheating, Markus's heart truly went out to the poor victim. "What can we do to keep them from shutting down?"

"Basic, common sense technical assistance." Simon replied curtly as he checked the display of the android unique cardiac monitor; a Thirial activity monitor, recording the victim's vital signs. "We can only replenish Thirium as fast as they lose it, keep their cores cool through external means like I'm doing now, and keep looking for a cause for... whatever _this_ even is."

"Well, we can rule out assault or an ambush on these seven for sure. What about a virus?"

"No. My diagnostics haven't found any form of virus or malware that had infiltrated their systems."

"A software glitch?"

"Not that either. The twenty-nine..." Pausing for a bit Simon sighed and gave Markus a reluctant realtime update. "Make that _thirty-three_ confirmed victims are all different models, from different eras of manufacturing with unique processors and enduring different tasks when they become affected. It's not a glitch."

"...Then what? What could possibly be causing our people to exhibit such horrific and debilitating symptoms?"

"We're working on it, Markus. Josh is checking through the victims' memorybanks and trying to isolate a possible incident that the group shared together."

"Good, that's a start." Crossing his arms over his chest in a guarded manner Markus's mismatched eyes scanned over the victim's blank white face again as he sighed and gave his friend a somber glance. "Do what you can to keep them stable. I'm going to go downtown and speak with Connor."

"Connor?"

"A majority of the victims were found in the city and not the tower. If anyone else is working on solving this mystery it's him."

* * *

Having arrived at the precinct at their usual time Connor and Hank found themselves being bombarded with numerous questions revolving around the now thirty-three deviant victims found bleeding to death throughout the city, and yet neither detective could give a single plausible answer. Working quickly Connor pressed his exposed left palm to his terminal screen as he cybernetically uploaded all of the provided information, and downloaded his report on the matter at hand just as quickly. With his L.E.D. flashing yellow rapidly in his right temple Connor looked stressed and nearly overwhelmed, but his demeanor remained calm and professional.

"Got anything good, kid?" Hank asked as he slowly typed away on his own keyboard across from Connor's side of the desk. "Anything at all we can use as a lead and start to actually investigate?"

"...Negative."

"Shit."

"Hank," pulling his hand from the terminal screen Connor placed his palm abck down on his desk top and glanced at Hank around the screen with a mildly perturbed glance. "what should we do?"

"...You're asking me?"

"I don't know where to begin this investigation."

"Kid, are you going to be okay with this?" Looking up from his keyboard Hank locked eyes with Connor and could see the concern gleaming in the deviant's soulful brown irises. "You look a little worried."

"I am worried. I don't know how to help my own people."

Honing in on the yellow L.E.D. still flashing in Connor's temple Hank's blue eyes narrowed slightly and he gave the deviant a righteously concerned stare. "Is there something else going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your light." Pointing to the glowing circle of light in Connor's right temple Hank specified the nature of his concern. "It's yellow even though you're not doing your download thingy anymore."

"I'm just thinking."

"Uh-huh. You've been thinking that hard all morning?"

Noting the current time, 2:17 p.m., Connor realized that he had been so focused on his case that he had lost just over seven hours of time. Had he really been that focused on the case that his internal chronometer failed to alert him? "...I suppose I have. I've never experienced such a phenomenon before."

"Do you need to take a break? You seem a little... off. Like there's something more going on inside your head."

"Oh. During my report I was given notice of a software update from-" Pausing mid sentence Connor's brow furrowed and he looked away from Hank as his yellow L.E.D. turned red and he pressed his left hand to his nose. Wiping away an uncomfortable sensation under his nose and above his lip Connor's eyes widened as he recognized a smear of his own blue blood now marring the side of his index finger. "H-Hank?"

"What's the matter, kid?"

Holding up his still exposed left palm where the blue blood was smeared Connor's red L.E.D. began to blink faster and faster as more blood began to run from his nose, then around his eyes. "I'm... I'm bleeding."

"What the fu- Connor?!" Before Hank had the chance to stand up Connor's eyes rolled back in his head and his body went rigid as he fell to the floor and began to convulse violently. As soon as Connor had hit the floor Hank scrambled around his desk and fell to his knees to kneel down beside Connor as he slipped his left hand under Connor's head to hold him up from the floor, then pressed his right hand down on Connor's chest to try to hold him still and monitor his rapidly beating Thirium pump; his heart, under his palm. "Shit! Someone call tech!"

There was a rush of commotion as other officers responded quickly. Tina worked with Chris to push aside the nearby desk and chair to give Connor more space to prevent injury while he convulsed, and Captain Fowler proceeded to call for tech to come down from the second floor dispensary as he had witnessed the event through the transparent wall of his office, and was immediately taking steps to regain control over the chaotic scene taking place in the bullpen.

"Connor. Hold on, son..." Hank spoke with impressive calmness in his voice as he stayed beside Connor and supported him as he continued to seize and bleed from his nose and his eyes in a frightening manner. The lack of artificial skin over Connor's left hand was disconcerting, but as the surrounding artificial skin steadily receded around Connor's left wrist and began inching up his forearm told Hank that the deviant was in serious trouble. "Where the fuck is tech?"

Additional Thirium began to bleed from Connor's mouth and his ears in a frightening display of blood loss that covered the deviant under a sickening layer of sticky sapphire.

"Damn it, hang on son."

From the far side of the bullpen the precinct technician, Joel Forest, rushed over to the side of the downed and seizing deviant with an emergency technician's satchel slung over his right shoulder. Taking a knee beside Connor on the opposite side of Hank the keen eyed technician placed his satchel down on the floor and fished out a small rectangular device that Hank didn't recognize in the slightest.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Processor stabilizer." Joel replied coolly as he pressed the device to Connor's rapidly flashing red L.E.D. and delivered a controlled shock that mercifully ended the seizure, and let the deviant's body finally fall still. As the seizure ended Joel retracted the stabilizer and gave Hank a quick nod. "I need you to unbutton his shirt so I can attach a monitor to his chest and check his vitals."

"He's that bad?"

"Unfortunately yes."

"Ah, fuck..." Awkwardly Hank unbuttoned Connor's white dress shirt with his right hand as he continued to hold Connor up from the floor with his left hand. As he pulled open the buttons of the shirt Hank saw the artificial skin on Connor's left arm had completely receded up his shoulder, and was beginning to stretch over the left side of his chest. "What the hell?"

"The extreme loss of Thirium makes artificial skin regeneration nearly impossible." Pulling an audioscope from his satchel, a device very similar to that of a human's stethoscope, Joel put the ear buds into place before he ran the bell from left to right over Connor's barely rising and falling chest. During the exam Joel's pale blue eyes narrowed with righteous frustration. "Damn it, he's not ventilating properly."

"He's _what_?"

"Not breathing well on his own."

"Shit..."

Placing the portable Thirial activity monitor down on the floor beside Connor's head Joel attached the lone wireless sensor pad down over Connor's partially exposed chest to track his frantic heartbeat. As the display showed Connor's steadily declining vital signs the deviant's artificial skin continued to recede like a steady tide, and Thirium oozed out of his face at an alarming rate.

"Connor?" Lightly Hank patted the side of Connor's bloody face and tried to address the deviant in a calm voice. "You're going to be okay. We'll get you to a facility and figure out what the hell just happened."

"He's in the same condition as all of the previous deviant victims." Joel stated as he pulled a flexible tube, one that had a secondary tube running along its side to allow Thirium to run down the tube while allowing fresh air to be pumped into an android's body, from his satchel and tilted Connor's head back as he then lowered Connor's jaw. "I'm going to insert this tube down his throat so I can give him more Thirium, then if necessary I'll attach an ambubag to force him to ventilate until he's strong enough to breathe on his own again."

Everything he had just heard made Hank's stomach sink. "...Son of a bitch."

Captain Fowler exited his office and silently motioned for the gathered officers to get back to work as he checked in on Hank. "I saw him collapse and seize on the floor. What caused it?"

"We don't know." Hank replied honestly as he continued to hover protectively over Connor's person. "Joel said it's the same damn thing that's been taking down deviants since last night."

"Damn." Rubbing his right hand down his chin Captain Fowler glanced at the other officers and detectives at their desks before he made his final decision on the matter. "Alright, you go to the facility with Connor until he's been stabilized. Then I need you to get back here to continue the investigation."

"I'm going to do _what_?" Turning to look up at his commanding officer over left his shoulder Hank glared daggers at Captain Fowler and refused to let Connor be alone while he was so sick. "No fuckin' way!"

"Hank, you're the only detective working in the deviant division now that Connor's down. You have to keep the investigation going, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, as long as you're 'sorry' that makes up for me leaving my partner alone in an android hospital as he bleeds to death..."

Through the front doors of the precinct a gurney with two responding technicians entered the bullpen where they quickly spotted Connor laying on the floor covered in his own blood. Within seconds Connor was gently placed down on the gurney by strong hands while Joel began pouring Thirium down the tube in Connor's throat to help replenish his lost blue blood.

"Connor, you're going to be okay." Hank urged as he escorted the gurney across the bullpen and back to the front doors of the precinct to get to the android unique ambulance already parked out front. Keeping his left hand on Connor's right shoulder Hank tried to be strong on his downed partner's behalf. "We're going to figure this out and get you back on your feet before you know it."

* * *

In the heart of New Jericho Tower out on Belle Isle things were hectic and full of energy as the report of deviants mysteriously collapsing and bleeding their Thirium through their noses, ears, mouths and eyes kept everyone on edge. Six more deviants had been found bleeding out in their private quarters and were undergoing aggressive treatment to keep their systems from shutting down entirely, and causing irreversible damage to their processors. With the emergency repair ward quickly filling up and the necessary supplies to keep the affected deviant alive rapidly shrinking away Simon was feeling helpless and in desperate need of assistance.

"Markus, I don't know what to do to save them." Simon pulled the bell of his audioscope from the latest patient's chest and sighed with a very human breath of despondent fatigue. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Have you isolated the cause?"

"No. There's no single constant variable to connect any of the victims together, let alone identify the singular error causing their bodies to just completely fail in such a horrible and fatal manner."

"Can you do anything to keep them as stable as possible to prevent critical readings?"

"I'm trying everything logically possible." Simon sounded as exhausted as he felt as he remained perfectly honest with the deviant leader. "The rate of Thirium loss is devastating and it's taking everything our external supportive measures can provide to keep their processors from overheating."

"Damn it, the thermal regulator has been affected?"

"The thermal regulator, the ventilation biocomponents, Thirium filter, artificial stomach and even the Thirium pump itself is being affected by whatever this error is. It's attacking vital biocomponents rather than any actual software or hardware."

"That's why you can't locate the error. It isn't a glitch or bug in the software."

"Unfortunately, no." Pinching the bridge of his nose with right index fingertip and thumb Simon took a step back and ran a visual scan over the other patients occupying the treatment tables throughout the emergency repair ward. "Never thought I'd see myself wishing for a glitch to take care of."

Dragging his right hand over his chin with an inquisitive and empathetic manner Markus made his next decision. "I'm going to see if Connor knows anything about what's going on. I tried to get in contact with him earlier but he didn't respond to my call."

"Think he's busy?"

"Most likely. If he can't answer a cybernetic call then I know for sure he's preoccupied with something important." Reluctantly Markus backed out of the emergency repair bay and toward the door with a heavy heart. "I'll keep you posted if I can learned anything new, or if Connor can give us some information."

* * *

The android unique ambulance was directed to the hybrid hospital of St. Vevila in favor of a strictly Android Emergency Care Facility. Due to the severity of Connor's condition and the enigmatic cause of his condition it was determined that a form of quarantine was necessary until an answer to the odd reaction could be identified. With Hank riding in the front cab of the ambulance to keep close to his downed partner Connor was being watched over by numerous first responders as his condition continued to deteriorate en route to the hospital, but he was still miraculously clinging to life.

As soon as the ambulance stopped at the emergency entrance leading to the hospital's newly established emergency repair ward Hank threw open his door and walked to the back of the ambulance in time to see the two technicians in the back push open the doors and begin lowering the gurney with Connor loaded up, and still unconscious, down to the ground to be wheeled inside.

"Kid? Can you hear me?" Putting his right hand on Connor's left shoulder Hank took in the sight of all the Thirium staining Connor's face and still dripping from his nose, and oozing from the corners of his mouth. The red L.E.D. was still pulsing but at a painfully slow rate that made Hank fear the light would go out entirely at any second. "Connor, you're at the best facility in the entire city. You're going to be just fine."

In an instant a duo of technicians swarmed over Connor as the gurney was wheeled through the entrance and into the emergency diagnostic bay to begin analysis and treatment for the still bleeding deviant detective. Without fail a responding nurse who was interning as a technician stopped Hank from following after Connor into the diagnostic bay, and had to stay outside the door to watch the procedure through the large observation window in the corridor.

"Thirium pressure is critically low, holding at seventy over forty." The lead technician, Dr. Abby Grayson, had become a familiar face as she had taken charge of her own Android Emergency Care Facility on Tenth Street and had treated Connor for injuries in the past. It was clear that she was now teaching the next generation of technicians the ropes and had gone to the hospital due to the strange deviant epidemic sweeping through the city. "Thirium volume is down to forty-four percent. Winona, start two units of fresh Thirium through the primary lines in both arms."

"Through the lines?" Winona asked curiously as she used a penlight to check Connor's pupils carefully. With her exam finished she moved to slip Connor's arms free of his gray suit jacket and white dress shirt sleeves to expose his arms fully. "I thought ingestion was the quickest way for androids to replenish their Thirium reserves."

"That's true but since this error or glitch or whatever is causing massive internal hemorrhaging and a destabilization of the artificial stomach resulting in unnecessary expulsion line replenishment is currently the only viable way to restore lost Thirium."

"I understand. Starting two units of Thirium."

"Hook him up to the stationary Thirial activity monitor. We need to check his Thirium pump's rate and monitor his ventilation closely." Hovering over Connor carefully Abby removed the wireless lead that had been attached to Connor's chest to reconnect him to the hospital's monitor, then placed an oxygen mask over his bleeding face to try to keep his core temperature low. "He's overheating." She announced after pressing her right palm to Connor's forehead lightly. "Start emergency cooling measures and connect his processor to the diagnostic modem. We need to monitor his processing activity just as closely."

"Two units of Thirium in." Winona announced confidently as she finished attaching the two external lines to the main lines running through Connor's arms located in the bends of his elbows. The new monitor's wireless sensor pad was placed down over the center of Connor's chest and with it the display of the monitor gave the duo of technicians the readout they needed to assess Connor's condition. "Pump rate is at one-hundred and thirty-two beats per minute, ventilation rate is eight per minute and his core temperature is holding at one-hundred and two point three degrees."

"Shit." Glancing over the numbers displayed in red on the monitor Abby sighed and issued her next order. "Hang two more units of Thirium and keep two partially frozen units on standby. As soon as his Thirium volume reaches seventy percent move him into the critical care unit of the emergency repair bay and keep constant analysis on his processors on record."

"Yes, Dr. Grayson."

Sensing Hank's eyes watching her through the window Abby patted Connor's chest twice with her right hand as she followed the emergency technicians who had transported Connor to the hospital out of the room and walked over to Hank to address him directly. "Lieutenant."

"Abby." Sighing openly Hank put his hands to his hips and gave the shorter brunette woman a worried glance. "How bad is he?"

"Bad. Even with our measures to stabilize him he's going to remain in critical condition until we can figure what the this problem is, and then correct it."

"How many other deviants have been infected?"

"Including Connor there are now a total of sixteen deviants who are just as sick and in the android critical care unit. All of them are exhibiting the same symptoms as Connor and they're all responding in the same manner to our treatments."

"Fuck. Have you been communicating with New Jericho at all?"

"Yeah. According to Simon they have just as many, if not more, deviants in the exact same critical condition." Turning to look at Connor through the window as her assistant, Winona, monitored Connor carefully and used her own audioscope to listen to his chest Abby remained honest with Hank. "Until we know what's causing this the only thing that can be done to treat the infected is common sense technical support."

Unsure of what to say let alone do Hank let out a frustrated sigh and closed his blue eyes. "I want to stay here with Connor and see if I can't get him to wake up even for a minute. He might be able to tell me what's going on."

"Good luck with that. Every deviant in our care has been in emergency stasis mode and unresponsive to manual override techniques to wake them up."

"Well, I'm going to try anyway." Watching Connor barely breathing and looking horrifically pale as he laid nearly motionless and covered in his own blood Hank felt sick and helpless at the macabre sight. "I owe it to the kid to not give up on him just as he never gave up on me."

* * *

The lack of deviant activity in the city was shocking to say the least. The sight of androids, with or without their L.E.D. lights and clothing, had become so commonplace in Detroit that their absence was quickly noticed by everyone walking the streets. Construction crews were halved, facilities were full and on the verge of lockdown, autonomous vehicles were parked and left idle at their charging ports, android department stores were bare while human department stores were practically overflowing, and the deviants in charge of maintenance and care throughout the city had been quarantined due to the unknown error leaving the humans to fend for themselves for the first time in almost twenty-five years.

Markus walked from New Jericho Tower and to the precinct to ensure that he didn't accidentally come into contact with anyone or anything that was spreading the enigmatic and potentially fatal error, and had to force himself to step through the precinct's front doors. As he passed through the receptionist area he noticed that the deviants who were usually up front had been replaced by human temp workers, and that he couldn't detect any android signatures in the building whatsoever.

"Oh, no." Stepping into the bullpen Markus glanced about but failed to see either Connor or Hank at their desks near the center of the large room and just knew that something terrible had happened. "Where's Connor and Lieutenant Anderson?"

Approaching the two desks warily Markus glanced about the area and noticed the small remaining puddle of Thirium on the floor next to the corner of the desk. Kneeling down next to the puddle Markus pressed his right index fingertip into the sapphire stain and noted that it was fresh, warm and right next to Connor's personal desk.

"Damn it, what happened?"

From within his own personal office Captain Fowler took notice of Markus's arrival through the transparent wall overlooking the bullpen, and promptly stepped out of his office to greet the deviant leader properly. "Hey, Markus." Approaching Markus without drawing any attention toward him Captain Fowler extended his right hand and introduced himself respectfully. "I'm Captain Fowler, I'm the detective in charge."

"Hello." Shaking Captain Fowler's hand respectfully Markus could tell by the look in the commanding officer's eyes that something bleak had just transpired moments before he arrived. "...Can you tell me where Connor and Lieutenant Anderson are?"

"I can but it's not good news."

"Please. I need to speak with Connor."

"Come with me for a minute." Showing Markus back toward his office Captain Fowler prepared to inform the deviant leader that the city's only deviant detective had been incapacitated by the very mysterious error he had been attempting to identify and eradicate. "What I have to say won't be pleasant, but the least I can do is tell you the truth while the precinct keeps looking for a definitive answer for everyone involved..."

* * *

Standing against the far wall of the sectioned off critical care unit with his arms folded over his chest and his back pressed up against the smooth white wall behind himself Hank just watched as Connor laid completely unconscious in the bed, and hooked to the numerous monitors and sensors recording his every vital sign and processor reaction. The sight was as grim for androids as it was for humans. Despite the red L.E.D. pulsing at a painfully slow pace in Connor's right temple Hank couldn't stop himself from seeing the young deviant as anything but a sick kid. Even Connor's artificial skin had paled to an eerie white shade due to the lack of energy preventing his artificial skin from fully generating, and allowed patches of the skin to disappear entirely while the white hue of his plastimetal frame showed through the semi-transparent layer of remaining skin for all to see.

The blood stained uniform had been cut away from Connor's body and replaced with a set of pale blue scrubs. With a wireless sensor pad over the center of his chest recording his Thirium pump rate and ventilation pace Connor looked as though he was being monitored for a nasty chest infection, not an error. The external ventilator was connected to a second air intake line that had been snaked down Connor's throat to keep his ventilation system functioning properly, and as a result his chest rose and fell steadily like someone breathing in their sleep. The twin lines running into the bends of Connor's arms supplied the deviant with the much needed Thirium he had lost after bleeding out at the precinct, and the pale blue ice packs over Connor's chest, abdomen, forehead and against the back of his neck helped him to remain cool as his thermal regulator struggled to function.

The door to the room slid open and Abby herself entered the room to check on Connor's condition. Noting the deviant's vital signs on the monitor before she pressed the back of her right hand to the left side of Connor's neck, Abby sighed and gently lifted Connor's eyelids one at a time to shine a light into his pupils to check his visual processors.

"He hasn't moved since he stopped seizing back at the precinct." Hank stated somberly as he joined Abby by the bed and stared down at Connor's pale face with a mournful look. Seeing the deviant so lifeless was as painful for her as it was for him. "I've never seen him so weak before."

"I haven't seen _any_ deviant this weak before." Admitting the grim scenario with a heavy heart Abby confirmed that the unusual error causing such catastrophic damage to deviants wasn't something she had experienced before. "Connor's design makes him more advanced than most models of androids despite him being a prototype, and even his software isn't immune to this error, glitch or whatever... Beyond common sense treatment I don't know what else I can do for him."

"Well, you're more qualified to make a decision than I am." Lightly Hank put his right hand on Connor's right bicep without touching the lines still inserted in his arms supplying him with the critically needed Thirium. "I have no idea what makes androids work, let alone what let them become sentient."

"You're not alone with that one, Hank." Pulling her audioscope from the right pocket of her white lab coat Abby put the ear pieces in place and then ran the cool metal bell over Connor's chest to listen to his his Thirium pump and ventilation directly. "Aside from having a much slower heartbeat and less frequent breaths Connor is stable. But," draping the device around her neck Abby glanced up at the monitor and confirmed his core temperature was still too high despite the ice and external ventilation fighting to keep him cool. "his temperature is up to one-hundred and two point seven degrees. If he hits one-hundred and four I'm going to have to place him in an emergency slush ice bath to get him to cool down."

"That doesn't sound good."

"No, it doesn't. What's worse is he won't be the first one I've prescribed for that treatment today. It's the only way to effectively reduce the core temperature of an overheating android when the thermal regulator is malfunctioning to such an extent."

"Shit." Dragging his right hand over his bearded chin Hank contemplated his next move very carefully. Despite being ordered to return to the precinct Hank didn't want to leave Connor behind while he was still so sick and so weak, yet he knew with Connor down and out that he was the only one left working in the deviant division who could possibly do anything to help him. "Look, I need to get back and report to Fowler about what's happening. If he shows any changes at all, or wakes up even for a second, call me."

"I will, Hank. I promise."

"Thanks." Patting Connor's arm twice Hank addressed the unconscious deviant in a low voice as if Connor could still hear him. "You'll be okay, kid. I need to go keep the precinct from falling apart, but I'll be back to keep you company as soon as I can. You'll be safe here."

Taking his reluctant leave of the android critical care unit Hank stepped through the sliding door into the corridor and practically ran into Markus as the deviant leader marched toward his friend's room.

"Lieutenant?"

"Markus?" Stopping short Hank spoke to Markus directly as his brow furrowed with confusion. "What're you doing here?"

"I went to the precinct to find you and Connor when I couldn't cybernetically connect to him." His mismatched eyes filled with grief as he spoke. "Your Captain told me about Connor collapsing."

"Yeah... He's, uh, not in the best shape right now."

"And from what I was told he's just like the others. Same symptoms and everything."

"Yeah. It looks like it. And I have no idea what caused him to go down so fast."

"Shit." The last thing Markus anticipated was Connor going down in the middle of the critical investigation. "How can I help?"

"You can't, Markus. Whatever this error thing is has proven to be serious shit. I don't want any more deviants getting too close to the investigation or getting too close to the deviants who have already been affected. Stay back from this."

"I can't do that, Lieutenant." Defying the suggestion Markus refused to simply sit back and wait. "Connor's my friend."

"He's also very sick. If you catch whatever it is that took him down then no one will be left to take care of the deviants when they need it the most."

"Not true, you're still investigating the case. Aren't you?"

"Yeah, well," sighing a little Hank rubbed his right palm along the back of his tense neck as he stared into Markus's mismatched eyes. "I'm not exactly tech savvy, let alone a technician. I'll do what I can to figure out what caused this 'error', but I don't think I'll be able to do much more beyond that."

"Then let me help you with this investigation."

The offer was tempting but unorthodox and very questionable. To allow a civilian, even if he were an important person with strong ties to the deviant community, to work on such a important and possibly dangerous case was a huge risk to take. But without any current leads or a partner to work with Hank's options were painfully limited.

"Hank, this is the best way for me to help my friend, _and_ my people as a whole. Let me do this."

"...Alright." Relenting with a begrudging sigh Hank allowed Markus to join in on the investigation as he was desperate to make some progress. "Let's go back to the precinct and start from square one. We need to work fast if we're going to help anyone."

_**-next chapter-**_


	2. Victims

Despite his reluctance to leave Connor behind at the hospital Hank knew he needed to focus on solving the case as it was the best possible way to aid his downed partner and potentially save his life. With Markus at his side in the vehicle as his lone passenger and honorary consultant on the case Hank returned to the precinct and parked the Oldsmobile in his assigned parking space in the neighboring parking garage to resume the investigation. Before turning off the engine Hank turned to look at Markus sitting beside him and gave him a wary glance that spoke volumes as the concern came from the very pit of his heart where his deeply seeded paternal instincts still reside.

"Don't you do anything, go anywhere, or intentionally contact any deviant that could potentially make you sick." The caution was firm but not aggressive as he laid out a few ground rules for Markus to follow. "You need to follow my lead and never do anything reckless that could risk your own life. Got it?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

"Call me 'Hank'." The gruff senior detective insisted as he turned off the engine and pocketed the key. "Now, let's see if we can work together and figure out what the hell is going on with this city."

"I'll remain in cybernetic contact with Simon at New Jericho Tower." Following after Hank as the determined Lieutenant opened his door Markus made sure to keep communication clear and mutual for all of the parties involved. "He's been monitoring the condition of the deviants down and in our care at the sanctuary. North and Josh are working to isolate any possible software flaw or malware that could be causing this bizarre error to happen. All we know for certain is this condition is targeting biocomponents and not software or hardware."

"Good. The more eyes we have looking over the case the more likely we are to finally find a lead."

"The affected deviants had been chronicled at New Jericho Tower so I should be able to compare the downed deviants at the tower to the chronicled deviants that the precinct has identified."

"Make a large list of the deviants on record," Hank stated as he and Markus walked side by side to enter the precinct together and finally make their way into the bullpen to resume the investigation. "get as many details as possible and then start connecting the common details together. There has to be at least one patch of common ground for us to stand on."

"Right. If we can narrow the list down by a single common occurrence between all the victims we might be able to finally figure out what the hell is happening to the deviants in this city."

"Try not to worry, son." The inflection of Hank's voice was impressively calm and collected as he approached the receptionist area and confirmed that he needed a temporary clearance badge for Markus to wear while working with Hank during Connor's absence. "It's hard but try to remain focused entirely on the case at hand and not on our friends being sick. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay." Clipping the reflective badge with all of Markus's information to the deviant leader's chest Hank gave him a quick reassuring pat to the shoulder. "Let's get working and see how far we get before some other stupid shit gets in the way."

Pausing beside Connor's desk Markus saw that the Thirium puddle that had been left on the floor had been properly mopped up after he had left, but it didn't remove the image of seeing Connor's blue blood sitting on the floor from Markus's mind. With a slow right hand Markus pulled back Connor's chair to sit down while Hank did the same from his own side of the desk.

"Go ahead and turn on Connor's terminal screen." Hank instructed as he turned on his own screen. "His work should still be there since he didn't have the chance to properly log off."

Reaching his right hand to the top of the monitor Markus turned on the terminal screen and glanced over the details that Connor had managed to collect before he had become ill and collapsed. The details were impressive enough even without actually being completed, and with the details on display Markus was able to easily add the records from New Jericho Tower to create a massive list of sick deviants to be analyzed by keen eyes.

"Hank, there's now a total of forty-six affected deviants between New Jericho and what cases have been reported to the precinct." Closing his mismatched eyes Markus received a secondary update from deviant allies at the surrounding facilities regarding other downed deviants. "...Damn. There's even more at the facilities all throughout the city. We're up to one-hundred and four victims in total."

"Holy shit. How fast is this 'error' thing spreading?"

"Very fast. I'm not sure what's causing it just yet, but I might be able to begin piecing together the puzzle just enough to figure out what's happening."

"Do what you gotta' do, Markus. Let me know what I can do to help you out, too."

* * *

Back at the hospital Abby continued to monitor Connor's condition and recorded his every vital sign very carefully. The provided Thirium that had been given to him through the lines began to slowly bleed through the corners of Connor's mouth, his nose, mouth and ears again as the strange error continued to plague his systems, and cause one biocomponent to fail right after the other. Carefully Abby wiped away the excess blood from Connor's face while Winona proceeded to hang two more bags of Thirium in place of the now empty ones, but slowed the flow to ensure Connor didn't begin to bleed again.

"This is ridiculous." Tossing the blue blood soaked bandages into the nearby waste bin Abby sighed and pressed the back of her right hand to the left side of Connor's neck again to check his current core temperature. "Shit, he's burning up." Glancing at the monitor still recording Connor's vital signs Abby saw that within the hour Connor's core temperature reached one-hundred and three degrees even. "If he breaks one-hundred and four he's going in the ice slush bath without question."

"I'll add more ice packs."

"And put as much spare Thirium as possible on ice to help the thermal regulator keep every deviant's core temperature lower." Sighing loudly Abby pulled her phone from her pocket and saw a dozen text messages from the neighboring facilities keeping her update on the crisis at hand. Another text popped in informed her that another emergency patient was on their way in. "...Shit. We gotta' another."

Winona nodded as she made notes in Connor's electronic chart before following Abby out of the room. "I'll take care of the ice and meet you downstairs."

"Right. I hope you're ready to work overtime, Winona. This is going to be one long-ass day."

* * *

Working diligently and with surprising speed Markus had managed to compose an accurate detailed list regarding every affected deviant who had been downed by the error, and with the list completed he proceeded to locate common traits among those who had been stricken by the error in question. Despite Markus's speed and accuracy it seemed as though the precinct's best chance for a lead had fallen flat on its face once again, and a new lead was sorely needed if they were going to make any additional progress.

"Shit," the deviant leader lamented with a dour tone. "there isn't a single piece of common ground amongst the victims."

From behind his terminal screen Hank gave Markus a truly perplexed look and leaned forward atop his desk. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I wish I was."

"There's nothing that links all the deviants together?"

"No, nothing. There isn't a single common model number, gender aesthetic, software purpose, programming or update that connects the victims."

"There has to be _something_ there." Standing up from his desk Hank walked over to where Markus was sitting and gave the deviant leader a worried glance as he tried to think of an alternate path to take. "This isn't just some passing bug taking down androids like a flu outbreak would do to a human."

The comment had a resonating echo in Markus's mind as he contemplated what Hank had just stated. "...Maybe it is."

"What? How?"

"Maybe the reason we can't find a single link between all the affected deviants isn't because the error is being caused by an internal flaw, but an external one."

"You think there's a 'ground zero' for this thing? Like we got a diseased area in the city, or the android equivalent to a 'Typhoid Mary' who is unknowingly affecting deviants by passing them by?"

"Yeah, something like that." Giving Hank a somewhat confident glance as he could feel it deep down in his heart that they may finally have the right lead to follow. The idea seemed farfetched for humans but entirely plausible for deviants. "The error can't be traced down to a single software glitch, bug or virus; no one has accidentally ingested tainted Thirium and no one has been directly assaulted. But," explaining his reasoning further Markus sent a cybernetic link to Simon back at New Jericho Tower to keep the technician in the loop as he spoke. "if there is some type of external contaminant or even stimuli that can affect android processors through contact then it's entirely possible that deviants can be stricken by a type of epidemic or plague."

Dragging his right hand over his bearded chin Hank contemplated the theory and let out a weary sigh. "Alright, so let's go ahead and assume that there is something or someone out there making the deviants sick and is the direct result of this weird error; how do we find the location or the person responsible?"

Taking the moment to ponder the notion Markus's mismatched eyes lit up quickly with a sense of eureka. "We need to trace the steps of the very first affected deviant. If we can follow their routine before they collapsed then we'll figure out where this whole mess started."

"Sounds good. Where's the first victim located?"

Markus closed his mismatched eyes and asked for Simon to locate patient zero on his behalf. "She's back at the hospital where Connor has been admitted."

"Perfect." The senior detective was eager to continue their work and rose from his desk to head out to the hospital once again. "We can check in on her and stop to check in on Connor at the same time."

* * *

Exhausted and ready to go on a ten minute break Abby forced herself to walk back to the critical care unit to check in on Connor one last time before she sat down and sipped at her much needed coffee. Stepping through the sliding door to the room Abby approached the bed and gently put her right palm down over Connor's forehead lightly, pushing aside the partially melted ice pack as she placed her hand down, and glanced at the monitor to confirm that Connor's core temperature had risen yet again.

"Shit, he's about to hit one-hundred and four." Pressing the call button on the wall just beside the bed Abby requested that Winona come and join her in the room to assist with Connor. "Hang in there, Connor." Lightly she lifted up Connor's eyelids to check his glassy pupils once more and sighed. "I know you're still in there, just hold on and we'll get you fixed up."

As Winona entered the room with a fresh bundle of ice picks and semi-frozen Thirium pouches in her arms the monitors recording Connor's vital signs began to screech and Connor himself began to seize again.

"Damn it!" Abby pressed her left forearm down over Connor's chest to hold him down on the bed while using her right hand to pull a leather safety restraint over the deviant's chest and his abdomen while Winona pulled the restraints over Connor's legs to keep the seizing deviant as stable as possible. "His processors are overwhelmed." Taking a second glance at the monitor Abby noted the ill deviant's current core temperature and made a new plan of action to keep Connor alive. "Shit, he's up to one-hundred and four and half! We need to put him in the ice bath, NOW."

Thirium began to ooze from Connor's mouth, nose, ears and eyes as the replenished Thirium began bleed out of his body causing his Thirium pressure to drop steadily once more.

Working together Abby and Winona unhooked the ventilator from the tube snaked down Connor's throat and attached a manual pump before they began wheeling the bed from the room down the corridor, and into the large room at the end of the corridor containing large metal tubs designed specifically for cooling down overheating androids. The doors slid open and the two technicians positioned the rolling bed beside the nearest vacant tub where they proceeded to manually breathe for Connor to keep his core as cool as possible, and manually deactivated Connor's overwhelmed processor one function at a time to stop the seizing just long enough to lift the sick deviant from the rolling bed, and lower him down into the empty metal tub.

The tubs were flat, stainless steel, three feet elevated up from the ground, about two feet deep, five feet across and seven feet long. The head of the tub was slightly elevated to ensure the patients laying in the tub would be spared from accidentally inhaling or choking on icy cold water.

"He's as stable as he's going to get." Abby announced as Connor stopped seizing long enough to be moved, and pulled the small processor stabilizer from his right temple. Removing the restraints one by one Abby put her hands under Connor's arms and around his chest to lift him up from the bed while Winona grabbed onto Connor's legs just under his knees. "On three... One, two, three!"

Fortunately the deviant's lightweight design made it fairly easy to lift him up and place him down despite being unconscious and dead weight. As Connor was placed down in the tub on his back, his head propped up just enough to ensure his airway was clear, Winona used the pump to force fresh cool breaths into Connor's overheating artificial lungs. With Connor stable and in position Abby opened the nearby massive freezers to begin adding ice and water to the tub over Connor's body.

"Remove the scrub top and leave the pants." Abby instructed as she opened up a large bag of ice to be poured over Connor's overheating body. "It can help him cool off."

Winona awkwardly pulled the pale blue colored scrub top, one that had been marred by Thirium and stained dark blue around the collar, up and away from Connor's arms, and then pulled it over his head without tearing the manual pump out from his mouth in the process. As the layer was removed from Connor's top half the deviant looked all the more weak and helpless. His artificial skin was still missing entirely around his left arm, up to his shoulder and mid way across his chest. The exposed white plastimetal frame made Connor's condition appear all the more bleak.

"I always hate doing this." Abby lamented as she placed shredded ice and ice cubes all over Connor's body until there was an even layer over his chest and all the way down to his toes. The ice was quickly melting from Connor's overheating body but as Abby added more ice and turned on the internal faucet of the tub down near the foot of the tub to fill the metal basin in fresh water the coolness of the water kept the ice from melting too quickly. "Deviants hate the cold more than humans do."

Winona nodded as she wheeled a portable Thirial activity monitor over to the tub and synchronized the wireless sensor still on Connor's chest to the new monitor to check his vitals again. "His core temperature is dropping back down to one-hundred and four degrees even."

"What's sad is that high number is an improvement." Pressing her left fingertips to Connor's red and rapidly pulsing L.E.D. and placing her right palm down on the center of Connor's chest Abby manually deactivated the deviant's remained paled artificial skin from over Connor's chest and upper abdomen to help his core cool down even further. The lack of artificial skin seemed wrong but it was the only way to help him cool off quicker. "Okay, let's monitor him closely for the next hour. If his temperature doesn't come down to one-hundred and three point five within the hour we'll add more ice and start a direct line of partially frozen Thirium."

"Right, Dr. Grayson."

Lightly Abby ran her left fingers through Connor's slightly dampened hair and stared at his pale face as Winona detached the pump from the tube and decided to let Connor breathe on his own. "Winona I'm going to go check on the other patients to make sure no one else is getting as bad as Connor. Stay here and keep an eye on him, contact me immediately if his temperature begins to rise again."

"I'll stay right here with him and keep the ice steady." Turning off the cool water once it rose high enough to completely submerge Connor's arms, legs and partially up his abdomen Winona set about rechecking Connor's vitals and updating his electronic chart. "I get the feeling you're going to be needed back out in the critical care unit soon, so I'll watch over him until he cools down."

"Thanks, Winona. I'll be back as soon as I can."

* * *

It didn't take long for Markus to hone in on the deviant who had been the first victim of the unknown error as she too was placed in the critical care unit where she could receive proper treatment. The deviant of interest, a 'WP-400' who had begun working as an art teacher in a private high school, had been the first one affected by the error two days prior. She had all the same symptoms as the other deviants and by all account she was patient zero for the mysterious error steadily taking down the deviants throughout the city.

"Do you know her?" Hank asked as he and Markus were shown to the room by a volunteering nurse who was helping to take care of the overflow of the deviant patients in the hospital. The affected deviant was being monitored as well, and she had a ventilator fighting to keep her cool as well. "I don't think I've ever seen her before."

"She was a part of the Revolution, but aside from that I haven't personally interacted with her." Approaching the bed Markus gave the affected deviant a somber smile as he gently picked up her left hand and retracted his artificial skin to connect his mind to her own.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Shouting in protest to stop the interaction Hank reminded Markus of a very serious potential outcome to be wary of. "How do you know connecting your mind to her mind won't infect you, too?"

"...I don't."

"Markus, no. It's too risky."

"We don't have another choice, Hank. Unless we get some answers from this deviant then we can't proceed."

"...There has to be another way."

"Unfortunately, there is not. I have to do this." Keeping his hand wrapped around the unconscious deviant's hand Markus proceeded with the cybernetic connection. As the two deviants connected their minds Markus accessed her memories and trailed her actions back to her school where she had been teaching her final class of the day when an unknown error message had been briefly detected by her system, then automatically dismissed. "...Hank." Gently Markus put her hand back down and patted the back of her hand in a comforting manner. "Her name is 'Camilla' and she had become infected while she was still teaching her class."

"Which school does she work at?"

"The private school near Belle Isle."

Hank's brow arched a little as he dragged his right hand over his bearded chin again. "...And near New Jericho Tower."

"Yeah. That's right."

"Shit. Go ahead and let New Jericho know we may have found our ground zero and to be _very careful_ of anyone lurking near the tower's drive."

"I'm already on it. Josh is going to keep the tower on lockdown and North is going to meet us here with an updated file on the affected deviants for the hospital staff to use."

"Good idea. Until then," taking a step back outside of the room Hank glanced at another room in the critical care unit just down the corridor and sighed. "let's go check in on Connor."

Following after Hank down the corridor Markus recognized Abby as a trusted technician and was surprised when she went out of her way to stop Hank before he entered the room where the senior detective had last seen Connor. Sensing that something was amiss Markus stood at Hank's side as Abby gave him an update on Connor's current condition. Hearing that Connor had been given emergency thermal treatment via an ice bath Markus became worried that his friend wasn't going to survive the mysterious error.

It took Hank a moment to reply as his posture slumped at the news, and he leaned toward Abby as he lowered his voice. "...Can we see him?"

"Yeah, for a moment." Escorting Hank and Markus to where Connor was currently located Abby allowed the sick deviant to have visitors. "He's just down the hall. He's still unconscious and looks rough, but he's stable."

The door slid open and revealed the odd room where the ill deviant was resting and being watched over by Winona.

"Ah, kid..." Hank stood beside the metal tub and lightly put his right hand on Connor's icy left shoulder with a sympathetic gesture. The sight of Connor so pale, so weak and covered under smears of his own blue blood made Hank feel sick to his stomach. "Don't worry, Connor. We found a lead and we're working on it right now. Markus is here and he's the one who found the lead, so with his help I know we'll figure this thing out."

Markus all but dared himself to stand beside the tub as he too looked at his dangerously sick friend's face.

"You're going to be okay, son. Between Markus and myself continuing the investigation, and Abby watching over you, it guarantees you'll make a full recovery sooner than you realize."

Connor remained entirely motionless save for his weak breaths causing his chest to just barely rise and fall in the slushy cold water.

"We'll be back as soon as we figure out what the hell's going on, and we'll find out how to wake you up." As he patted Connor's shoulder lightly Hank noticed a faint trickle of Thirium oozing from the corner of Connor's mouth and he instinctively used his thumb to wipe it away. Most humans were still repulsed by the sight of blue blood but Hank didn't care what color the blood was, all he did care about was keeping people safe, alive and healthy. "Just hold for a few more hours and then everything will be fine. I promise."

Not wanting to leave without saying anything to his friend Markus found his voice and addressed Connor in a low tone. "Your records at the precinct helped immensely, Connor. I managed to narrow down the cause of this error and I know that thanks to your research we'll find out what's happening to our people. Rest well, my friend. I swear we'll be back soon."

Abby smoothed out the melting ice flakes over Connor's chest and down his abdomen to ensure he remained cool as she gave Hank and Markus a worried yet impressively cool glance. "Be very, VERY careful. I suspect Connor's prototyping made him far more susceptible to this error, and I don't want you to get too close to this problem, Markus."

"We'll be careful." Markus stated fearlessly as he gave the skilled technician a confident nod of his head. "As soon as we have an answer we'll report back to you and spread word to New Jericho Tower."

Pulling his hand from Connor's shoulder Hank took a step back and silently motioned for Markus to follow after him. "We'll figure this out, Connor. Be cooperative with the technicians and everything will be fine."

Following after Hank at his own steady pace Markus accompanied the senior detective back out of the hospital and to the car to drive off to the school where the first deviant victim had been found. Opening the passenger side door Markus sat down in the front seat and watched as Hank opened up the driver's side door and sat down heavily behind the wheel.

"As soon as we find the source of the error we'll know how to correct it and we'll be able to save the deviant victims."

"Yeah, I know." Fishing the car key from his pocket Hank put it in the ignition and turned the key quickly causing the engine to roar to life. "I just hate waiting and playing 'beat the clock'. Especially when my best friend's life is on the line."

"I can understand that kind of stress."

"Markus, I gotta' ask you something." As the car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street Hank powered on his G.P.S. and motioned for the deviant to upload the correct address of the school to search. "Abby said you need to be careful when she was talking about Connor's condition deteriorating. Why?"

"Because I too am a prototype." Pressing his right index finger to the screen of the G.P.S. mounted on the car's dashboard Markus cybernetically uploaded the coordinates and slumped back in his seat. "I'm the only 'RK-200' model in existence, just as Connor is the only 'RK-800' model."

"Shit."

"What?"

"...I wish I had known that before I let you connect to 'patient zero' back at the hospital."

"I'm fine, Hank. And it was worth it now that we know where to go and where to search."

"Yeah, I guess. But I still don't like that you risked your life for an answer." Shrugging his shoulders a little Hank sighed and turned at the next block. "I guess that bullheadedness is another trait you and Connor have in common."

"To be fair I didn't know that prototyping could potentially increase my risk of suffering from the same error that has taken down Connor, but I wouldn't have let the opportunity to connect with the deviant go either way."

"Yeah, you and Connor do have a quite a bit in common personality wise. No wonder it was you two who succeeded with the Revolution."

"Well, there was more than just _us_ involved with the success. North kept everyone strong and in line, and gave me the benefit of the doubt when it came to being a leader. Without her help and her strength without her there holding my hand and pushing me forward I don't think I could've gone through with it."

"Behind every successful man is a strong woman... It seems that old adage still holds water."

Smirking a little at the compliment Markus took the time to send out a cybernetic update to New Jericho Tower to inform Simon, North and Josh of their current progress, and Markus was met with additional information to share with Hank and keep the case moving forward as smoothly as possible. "According to Simon all of the affected deviants at New Jericho Tower have remained stable, though weak. No one has shutdown from becoming sick for this error."

"Well that's some good news I can get behind." Glancing at the map on the G.P.S.'s display Hank noted they were only two blocks away and on the nicer, wealthier side of the city. The houses were all towering, perfectly tended to, each property was immaculately groomed and each driveway had the newest model of vehicle that had been polished to a shiny luster. "Man, just driving through this area makes me feel like I'm trespassing, and I'm a _cop_!"

"...Carl lives near here." Markus replied in a low voice as the car drove past a large, two story brick house that had a massive glass encompassed exterior room that was used as an art studio. Seeing the familiar house made Markus's mismatched eyes well-up with emotional tears of joy and sadness. "The neighborhood hasn't changed much since the Revolution."

"Carl?" Asking about the person out a sheer curiosity Hank noted Markus's emotional reaction and studied his demeanor closely. "Is he a friend?"

"Yes. I was the personal caretaker, friend and an adopted son to Carl Manfred."

"Wait... The famous painter?"

"That's him."

"Damn. I saw some of his work up close and personal at Kamski's place when me and Connor went to talk to him while we were still investigating the deviant cases. He's pretty good. Not necessarily my taste, but, you know, his work doesn't look like shit."

Laughing at the oddly gruff compliment Markus nodded a little and turned his full attention to the front black irons gates that locked up the main drive to the private school where their investigation would need to continue on. "I'm sure Carl would appreciate hearing that, but until then..."

"Yeah, I know. Let's get clearance into the school and find out exactly what caused patient zero to collapse."

* * *

New Jericho Tower was as exhausted as it was tense. Simon was standing outside the emergency repair bay with his head bowed down with frustration and his right index finger and thumb squeezing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. Deviants weren't immune to headaches and it seemed as though the blond technician had worked himself to the brink of collapse while helping his people in their hour of need. As he stood outside the closed door to the repair bay Josh approached his dear friend and lightly put his right hand on Simon's left shoulder in a comforting manner.

"...Hey?"

Lowering his hand slowly Simon locked his bright blue eyes onto Josh's chocolate brown eyes and offered him a weary but sincere smile. "Hey."

"You should go lay down and get some rest, Simon." The kind deviant encouraged his dearest friend to take a moment for himself. "I don't want to see you work yourself into the ground."

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Is that why you're out here and fighting the urge to sit down on the floor, or pass out and sleep?"

"I didn't say I wasn't tired."

Smirking at the comment Josh shook Simon's shoulder and tried to pull him away from the door to rest in his private quarters. "Come on. Go lay down for at least an hour and I'll keep an eye on the repair bay for you."

"Josh, I can make it-"

"No. Go lay down. If you won't listen to me then I'll ask North to intervene."

"Alright, alright..." Not wanting to deal with North's spitfire attitude anymore than necessary Simon quickly relented. "I'll go."

"Thank you. It's not selfish to take a moment to rest after you spent the past forty-eight hours taking care of an entire repair bay full of sick patients."

"Yeah, I know."

Giving Simon's hand a gentle squeeze Josh watched as Simon walked away very slowly and approached the elevator to head up to his private quarters. As soon as Simon was out of sight Josh opened the door to the repair bay to watch over the weak, sick and unconscious deviants under the lone technician's care. Hovering near the center of the room Josh sighed and ran a scan over the dozens of sick deviants and felt his heart ache sympathetically.

"Markus is working on finding the source of this error or glitch, or whatever it is that's causing this problem." Glancing about the occupied exam tables as if expecting at least one of the deviants to awaken, sit upright or acknowledge Josh's presence in any way, the kind deviant's heart went out to them. "Have faith in our leader and our friend, he won't let us down."

* * *

Despite the head of the school insisting that the police couldn't possibly find _any_ source of criminal activity on his school's grounds he gave Hank and Markus security clearance to investigate the art classroom where Camilla, patient zero, had initially been infected with the lethal error. The classroom itself was impressive in both size and supplies, and had been left a mess thanks to Camilla's sudden illness preventing her from properly cleaning up the classroom after her classes were dismissed for the afternoon two days prior.

The smell of oil based paints, fresh clay, brand new canvases, chalk and charcoal filled the air as the various art projects that had been worked on throughout the semester laid strewn about the countertops, shelves and walls of the entire room. Small spots of multicolored paint in possibly a thousand different colors stained the floor around the tables, and bits of dried clay that had flaked off the current projects speckled the ground; half of which had been ground into the tiles under student footsteps since the school had opened.

"Man, this brings back memories..." Hank stated as he picked up a rogue paintbrush and ran his right index fingertip over the soft hairs of the brush. "I wasn't the most artistic student, but I appreciated being able to work with my hands and not be expected to memorize a damn textbook all day long."

"Carl would be proud of this classroom." Glancing about the various projects with an intrigued glance Markus could see a lot of passion and pride put into the works of art that went far beyond just trying to get a good grade. The creativity and energy reminded the deviant leader so much of Carl's earlier work, and in turn it brought him a sense of calmness. "The unique styles and personality is really evident in each piece."

"Think that comes from natural talent. or from a really good teacher?"

"Gifted artists are born with talent in their hands and passion in their hearts, well trained students are born with talent in their hearts and passion in their hands."

"Is that Shakespeare?"

"No. It's just something I've observed from my time with Carl."

"Yeah, well, cool. For now," placing the paintbrush back down on the easel where he had first picked it up Hank motioned to Camilla's desk and made his way over to resume his investigation. "we need to continued on our case. Can you see anything that I can't?"

"Maybe." Approaching Camilla's desk Markus gave the space a quick glance and noted that everything seemed to be in its proper place; her laptop was in the center of the desk, a framed photograph in the top left corner showing Camilla standing with her students from the previous year as her class had been recognized by the local news for their talent, a simple white coffee mug in the top right corner that had traces of Thirium from Camilla's weekly replenishment, the top center of the desk had a large rectangular wooden block that had various paintbrushes of lengths, styles and material on display for teaching purposes, and there was an electronic table resting on the left side of the tablet that had the class roster registered for proper grading. "...Everything appears to be normal."

"'Appears', huh?" Picking up on Markus's suspicion Hank pressed the deviant acting as his consultant for a few more answers. "What's bothering you?"

"There's just something... off. It's hard to explain."

"What's 'off'?"

"The desk." Hovering his hands over the desk as he stood beside it Markus's mismatched eyes scanned over the surface again and took a mental inventory of the items on display as he tried to put his finger on the odd feeling that was nagging at him. It was like he was looking at an unfinished puzzle and just needed to turn the final piece the right way to complete the picture. "There's something about the desk that's off."

Thoroughly intrigued Hank walked over to the desk and crossed his arms over his chest as he gave the desk a glance over himself. "Let's see... Laptop, mug, tablet, photograph and paintbrushes. Seems like a typical art teacher's desk to me."

"Maybe for a human teacher, but not for an android."

"Alright, I'm listening."

Markus sighed a little and pointed at the tablet beside the laptop as if it were the missing clue to the mystery. "The tablet is being used to record grades."

"...Riiiiight? What about it?"

"Androids don't need a tablet to keep track of such grades. This would be used for official school records only, and as such it wouldn't be actively on her desk at all times for anyone to touch."

"Yeah, I see what you're getting at. She would keep the grades safe inside her own head and record the final grades at the end of the semester to ensure the students don't tamper with anything." Nodding with contemplation a sense of discovery caused Hank's eyes to light up for a moment. Checking the drawers of the desk Hank confirmed they were all locked. "The tablet was left out because the drawers couldn't be opened up. So why was Camilla using it anyway?"

"Exactly." Making a move to pick up the tablet Markus had every intention of checking out the tablet's information and going from there. "And even so a teacher would keep the tablet locked up at all times, not on top of the desk where anyone could grab it."

"Hold it." Grabbing onto Markus's right wrist with his left hand Hank kept Markus from picking it up as Markus's fingertips brushed over the glass surface. Giving the deviant leader a paternally stern stare Hank made sure Markus knew he was being serious. "If that's the source of the error then I don't want you to get infected, too."

Backing off Markus watched as Hank let his arm go and pick up the tablet for himself. Using a piece of paper towel from the nearby cabinet to keep his fingerprints off the tablet's casing Hank carefully picked it up by the sides and swiped his finger over the surface of the tablet. There was a simple display on the home screen and there were two apps: one for grades and one for addressing school administration.

"...I have no idea what I should be looking for."

"Try looking-" Markus suddenly stopped and his brow knit with confusion. Taking a shaking step backward Markus's mismatched eyes suddenly went wide and he gave Hank a worried stare. A strange pressure filled his head and then seemed to focus down in the pit of his artificial stomach just as a strange warmth flushed over his entire body. "I don't... f-feel right."

As Hank's blue eyes trailed suspiciously up to Markus's face he saw a smear of blue blood dripping from Markus's nose. "...Oh, shit."

_**-next chapter-** _


	3. Contagious

Reacting as if someone had just set the entire school on fire Hank slipped the tablet into his coat's deep pocket for transportation, then rushed over to Markus where the senior detective promptly caught the deviant leader as he fell to his knees and pressed both palms up to his now bleeding nose. As the Thirium began to drip from Markus's nose, ooze from the corners of his mouth, his ears and out of his eyes Hank continued to support Markus by his shoulders, then stooped down in front of the bleeding deviant to pull Markus up and over his shoulders into a fireman's carry.

"Hold on, son." Carrying Markus over his shoulders Hank did his best to ignore the warm Thirium soaking the collar and sleeves of his heavy coat as Markus began to rapidly bleed, as he too had been infected by the unknown error. Holding tight onto Markus's left arm and left leg Hank could feel Markus beginning to tremble as his body began to betray him and fall prey to a seizure. "Stay with me, Markus!"

"...H-Hank? I'm... I've been infected."

"I noticed, son. I'm going to get you back to the hospital right now! Try to stay conscious and fight whatever it is that's happening to you."

The world was a blur as Markus felt his body overwhelmed with weakness and a sudden pain throughout his entire being. Too weak to move and unwilling to send out a cybernetic distress call to New Jericho Tower to seek assistance Markus was completely helpless, and totally reliant on Hank to save his life. Closing his blood filled eyes Markus felt Hank rushing out of the classroom, down the hallway and back through the doors as he raced to his car parked in the school's drive at the front of the building.

The abrupt stop and sound of a car door opening told Markus that they had reached the car and would soon be on their way to the hospital. As he felt Hank lower himself down toward the front passenger seat the still bleeding deviant leader didn't even try to resist as Hank slipped his body from over his broad shoulders and down into the seat to be transported to the hospital as quickly as possible.

"Just hang on a few more minutes." Pleading with Markus as he fastened the seatbelt over the deviant with a single swift motion Hank slammed the passenger door shut then practically ripped the driver side door off its hinges as he reclaimed his seat, jammed the key in the ignition and turned over the engine quickly. "I'm going to call the hospital and let Abby know you're on your way in as a patient."

"...T-Tell North," Markus's voice was weak and shaking as he forced himself to speak. "that I... I love her."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Fishing his phone out of his coat pocket as he sped away from the school and down the street back toward the hospital Hank refused to let Markus just give up so quickly. "You're going to tell her that yourself, and you're going to tell her that every day you two are together. Got it?"

Markus felt his body growing heavier and weaker as the blue blood continued to weep from his face and stain his shirt. Fighting to remain conscious for as long as possible he chronicled his symptoms, everything that had happened up until the point of his infection and what his system was doing in an effort to combat the unknown error to save his processor from permanent damage.

The sound of Hank's gruff voice became muffled as the seasoned Lieutenant called the hospital to tell Abby that Markus was now on his way in, and was bleeding in the same manner as Connor had been when first admitted. The words became distant, hushed and soon were completely silent as Markus lost his battle and submitted to the darkness of emergency stasis mode.

"Markus?"

From beside him in the front seat Hank caught sight of Markus beginning to seize and promptly hung up his phone as he slung his broad right arm over Markus's chest to hold the sick deviant as still as possible while continuing to speed through the streets, and used his left hand to steer.

"Hold on, Markus!"

Feeling the deviant leader violently shaking under his arm all Hank could do was focus on the roads and weave between the traffic to get Markus to the hospital before it was too late to save him.

"You're going to be just fine! Hold on, son... Don't give up!"

* * *

Winona placed a fresh cold compress over Connor's still too warm forehead before she used her audioscope to listen to his heartbeat as the sick deviant remained entirely unconscious, and buried under a thick layer of fresh ice. The icy cold water was steadily turning a pale blue as Connor continued to bleed from his nose and mouth at a slowed speed. The morbid sight was enough to make even the most experienced and jaded of doctors, nurses and technicians flinch with a sense of empathetic pain as the deviant detective bled from his face with no sign of stopping in sight.

"Vitals are holding steady..." Winona spoke aloud as she made a note in Connor's electronic chart. The mild changes in Connor's condition were truly strange as his condition seemed to be deteriorating quicker than the finished models of deviants who had also been infected. Prototyping could be a key factor in the way the error behaves and is transmitted. "Interesting."

The door to the room slid open and Abby all but burst into the room as she spoke to Winona and pointed over her right shoulder with her thumb to the corridor on the other side. "We got a new problem. Now _Markus_ is sick."

"Wh-What? Oh, no..."

"Hank's bringing him in right now. I need you to get some chilled Thirium and meet me in the emergency diagnostic bay."

"I'm on it, Dr. Grayson." Opening a nearby metal cabinet containing pouches of pure partially frozen Thirium Winona gathered up four pouches in her arms and followed after Abby down the corridor to where their latest patient was about to be treated. "Do we know what happened?"

"Hank said they found a lead at a nearby private school and while they were investigating Markus suddenly started bleeding and lost his strength. He's almost here, but we'll have to work quickly if we're going to keep Markus from suffering from any permanent damage to his processors."

"What about Connor? He shouldn't be left alone."

"...You're right." Pausing for a moment Abby took the Thirium pouches from Winona's hands and nodded at her professionally. "I'll send Hank back to keep an eye on Connor once Markus is here. Then you can help me with his treatment."

"Okay, yeah. I understand."

With the supplies now gathered up in her arms own Abby rushed down the corridor to get to the emergency diagnostic bay and watched as a gurney was wheeled into the sectioned off room with her newest patient atop of it. Two orderlies wheeled Markus into the room and remained planted at the ends of the gurney as Markus seized violently and threatened to break through the safety restraints holding the infected deviant in place on the soft gurney.

"Damn it..." Using a small processor stabilizer Abby pressed the device to Markus's right temple where his L.E.D. had once resided and used it to turn off Markus's overwhelmed processors one non-vital function at a time. As the seizing lessened steadily until Markus's body fell eerily still Abby pulled back the device and removed the straps of the gurney holding Markus in place. "Move him to the exam table on three." Taking a step back she gave the orderlies the room they needed to slide Markus from one surface to the next. "One, two, three!"

Moving swiftly and smoothly the two orderlies placed Markus down on the exam table and wheeled the gurney out of the room.

Using a small pair of sharp scissors Abby cut through the fabric of Markus's beige long sleeved shirt and exposed his chest as it barely rose and fell with his waning ventilation. Placing a wireless sensor pad down over the center of Markus's chest to monitor his Thirial activity Abby synced the sensor pad to the nearby Thirial activity monitor and proceeded to gauge Markus's current vital signs as efficiently and quickly as she could.

"Thirium volume is down to seventy-seven percent." Abby gauged the sickened deviant's vital signs very carefully and noted that Markus was overheating as well. His artificial skin was beginning to thin from low power, and the artificial skin around his right palm began to recede like a tide reaching up his arm. "Core temperature is up to one-hundred and one degrees Fahrenheit and climbing." Placing the icy Thirium pouches down over Markus's chest and under his neck until additional cooling measures could be taken Abby made her final assessment as she connected Markus to a diagnostic modem. "Shit... He's been infected just like the others."

Stepping inside the diagnostic bay Hank watched as Abby worked to stabilize Markus's condition, and tried to ignore the blue blood staining Markus's face, neck and his shoulders. "Abby? How bad is it?"

"...Bad."

"Fuck. I knew I shouldn't have let him get too close to this case."

"It's not your fault, Hank." Pulling her audioscope from around her neck Abby put the ear buds into place and then used the bell to listen to Markus's chest as his Thirium pump raced and his ventilation biocomponents struggled to keep his core temperature from rising even further. "We have no idea what this error is, or how it's spread."

"What can I do to help?"

"Go stay with Connor and tell Winona to come and help me. Once Markus is stable I'll come and find you."

"Yeah, sure..." Watching as Markus was tended to, his bloodied face looking completely blank and lifeless as he fought to breathe, Hank felt his heart ache empathetically as he watched the strong leader losing the fight to live and save his people. Going against his instincts as a first responder to help a friend in need Hank left the room and made his way down the corridor to check on Connor in the critical care unit. "We need to figure this out, fast!"

* * *

Word of Markus becoming infected spread to New Jericho Tower quickly as Simon remained in constant contact with allies working in the hybrid hospital. Unable to do anything beyond the basic treatment that the other technicians were already doing for Markus at the hospital all Simon could do was return to the tower's emergency repair bay to check in on his numerous patients who were just as sick, and in as much help as Connor and now Markus. With two of the strongest deviants in the entire city taken down Simon's fear for the weaker models of deviants increased tenfold.

Unsurprisingly Josh was still in the emergency repair bay and watching over the ill deviants when the blond technician stepped through the doorway. Sensing Simon's return Josh looked to the blond technician and exchanged worried glances with his dearest friend from the distance. "I know about Markus."

"Yeah, he went down during the investigation."

"North is already on her way to the hospital to be with him."

"Is that a wise decision? What if she gets sick, too?"

"...I don't know. But you know better than to get in North's way."

"You're right about that." Crossing his arms over his chest Simon walked over to the nearest medical bed and began his next round of tending to the downed deviants to the best of his ability. "Has it been quiet while I was in rest mode?"

"Yes. Everyone's been stable and there hasn't been any sign of changes; one way or the other."

"Alright, I guess that's as good as it's going to get for now."

"Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"Just keep me from tearing my hair out." Simon pleaded as he pressed his left fingertips to the nearest victim's right temple and ran another diagnostic. "As long as you can help me from losing hope than that'll be enough to help."

* * *

Standing beside the metal tub where Connor was still laying and uncovered under a melting layer of ice Hank just stared at Connor's pale face and the blue tinted water as a knot formed in the pit of his stomach. The sight of his best friend, his honorary son, laying so broken, helpless and weak filled Hank's mind with a sense of desperation to solve the case as quickly as possible. Working alone was something he had once preferred, but now he just wanted to work on cases with his partner more than anything else in the world.

"You're still holding on for us, kid. That's good." Speaking calmly Hank addressed his downed friend in a low and quiet voice. Pressing his right palm to Connor's dark and damp locks of hair Hank gently smoothed the hair back and away from Connor's face as he gave him an update on the situation. "Markus got sick, too. But I know we're onto something regarding this error bullshit. We'll figure this out, son. I know we will."

The ill deviant's red L.E.D. flickered briefly to yellow as if he was reacting to Hank's words.

Brushing some ice from Connor's locks of hair Hank flexed his chilled fingers a little and swore at the freezing sensation. "Damn, kid. It's a good thing you're unconscious for this. I know you hate the cold, so I bet you'd be fighting to get out of that water at every opportunity you'd have."

The door to the room slid open as the gurney with Markus was wheeled inside by Abby and Winona as the technicians escorted the ill deviant leader over to the second tub next to Connor. Without a word Hank walked over to the second gurney and helped pick Markus up and place him down in the vacant tub as the duo of technicians proceeded to placed a deep level of cool water and a layer of ice over Markus's overheating body.

"We're taking a preemptive approach this time." Abby stated as she and Winona buried Markus under the ice and attached a wireless lead to a second Thirial activity monitor to the deviant leader's chest. Markus wasn't as sick as Connor, but since they were both unique prototypes Abby wasn't going to take any chances regarding his system being possibly overwhelmed. "You can go ahead and head out to the precinct again, Hank. We'll be keeping a close eye on both of them."

"This is my fault. Markus got sick because he was trying to help me solve this case."

"Hank, no. Whatever this error is, where it came from, THAT'S responsible for Markus getting sick. And we're going to figure out a way to save Markus AND Connor before this thing gets any worse."

"And whatever this thing is, where it came from and how it even functions is still something I need to figure out in order to save them. Without Connor or even Markus to help me I'm on my own, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing." Straightening his posture Hank crossed his arms over his chest and gave the two downed deviants a somber stare. "I can handle murders, assaults and even drug dealers; but when it comes to cybernetic warfare and technology based attacks I'm at a total loss."

"I'm not sure how much help I can offer," the dedicated technician admitted as she checked over her two star patients and used her audioscope to listen to Markus's chest carefully, then did the same for Connor. "but I can confirm that this error is one that targets biocomponents and not the software or hardware of the affected deviants."

"I'm a detective who can work on cars, not a technician who can fix computers. You gotta' narrow it down a little. Fuck, draw or a picture or break out some sock-puppets if you have to."

"Okay, uh..." Draping her audioscope around her neck Abby did her best to break down android cybernetics, anatomy and functionality as a whole. "The hardware is the circuit boards, microchips and wires that give each android the ability to function. Think of the hardware as the android brain in the most basic of concepts. The software is the files and programs that give each android their unique abilities. That's like the thought process and quirks that make each android unique amongst one another..."

"Alright," Hank's blue eyes narrowed a little as he followed Abby's explanation fairly well. "I get that. The hardware is the brain and the software is what's going on inside the brain."

"Yeah, you got it. Now, the biocomponents are the internal organs of each android. This error is going after the vital biocomponents right now: the Thirium pump, which is the android heart, the Thirium pump regulator, which is like the brain stem in a human sending the electrical impulses telling the heart to beat, the ventilation biocomponents are a pair of artificial lungs, the thermal regulator, which is like a human's hypothalamus gland, the Thirium filter, which is the equivalent to the human liver, the two sterilization filters, those are like the two kidneys in a human and the artificial stomach; self explanatory, are all being infected by this error."

"Sounds like one nasty infection. Do androids have antibiotics?"

"Normally we can give sick androids malware removal files and antivirus programs to run, but again, this error is going after the biocomponents and not the software."

"Is there a single software file that controls the biocomponents?"

"Not a single file, no." Reaching her right hand into the slushy water Abby smoothed a cool layer of the partially melted ice over Markus's chest and around the back of his neck as she spoke. "The biocomponents connect to the couplings, and the couplings confirm whether or not the connected biocomponents are compatible with the android's model."

"And the couplings?"

"Well, the couplings are a piece of physical hardware as well."

"...So they aren't the source of the error, either."

"No. Couplings are just metallic bindings that detect compatible biocomponents, they don't have any software or circuitry that can be affected by any errors."

"Shit." Dragging his right palm over his rough bearded chin Hank sighed deeply and closed his eyes. "Alright, thanks. I'm going to head back to the precinct and try to figure out where the hell I go from here." Placing his left palm down on Connor's damp hair Hank spoke to the downed deviant one more time before he left. "I'll be back for you soon, kid. I just need to figure out what the hell's going on."

* * *

Throughout the city more and more deviants steadily became infected with the odd error, and collapsed one by one into a puddle of their own lost Thirium. The victims all shared the same symptoms; vital biocomponents failing and massive blue blood loss, but they seemingly never shared a single program, file, location or activity to connect them all to the source and cause of the error itself. With half of the deviants now infected in one capacity or another the city was eerily still, quiet and seemingly void of all activity.

Driving through the unusually docile city to return to the precinct alone Hank took in the rarely serene sight, and dragged his left hand slowly through his long locks of gray hair. The air was tense and heavy like someone was holding a lit match over a powder keg. It was as palpable as it was disconcerting.

"This whole city is on edge and no one is doing a damn thing to keep it from falling over itself."

Idling at a red light near the New Haven train station Hank saw the lack of people gathered at the station to be an odd sight in itself. Without properly functioning androids, deviant or machine, scanning over the train's safety programs and keeping the trains on schedule the humans in the city seemed to suddenly feel unsafe.

It was as if for the very first time the city realized how much they relied on the efforts and skills of deviants, and were now afraid to live without them.

"It's too damn quiet."

Turning on the radio Hank tuned into his usual station and actually grimaced as a song by 'The Knights of the Black Death' started playing. It was a song that Connor liked to listen to, and without the deviant beside him to analyze each chord and the lyrics just reminded Hank that he was really alone.

"Shit, this sucks."

Changing the station Hank sighed and pulled through the green light to continue on his way to the precinct.

"I actually miss the kid." Working alone was bad enough, but not having his best friend to hang out with at the end of the day was even worse. "The house is going to be so damn boring without him."

* * *

At the hospital more infected deviants began to fill up the exam and treatment rooms of the android emergency care wing, and despite the error being studied closely and analyzed by every capable technician in the city there seemed to be no progress leading toward a solution. As more deviants were admitted to the hospital and to the other Android Emergency Care Facilities throughout the city the city itself became increasingly quiet due to the lack of activity on the streets and sidewalks.

While Abby checked over Markus's vital signs Winona checked over Connor's condition. The two deviant prototypes were in critical condition but stable. With the generous use of ice, patience and constant monitoring both Connor and Markus remained stable and alive even as the error tried to destroy their vital biocomponents one by one.

"Strong heartbeat." Abby confirmed as she used her audioscope to listen to Markus's Thirium pump and ventilation biocomponents. As the deviant leader's chest weakly rose and fell under the thin layer of shredded ice Abby noted the weak physical responses, and made a new note in his electronic chart. "Steady ventilation as well, but he's very weak."

"Same with Connor." Winona stated as she too used her audioscope to listen to the deviant detective's chest. Connor's L.E.D. was pulsing in a slow red in his right temple. "His vitals have been stable ever since he was placed in the ice bath, but he hasn't regained consciousness or shown any awareness of the world around him."

"Damn it. We need to figure out what the hell this error is, and how to stop it before anyone shuts down. We need to figure this out FAST."

The sliding door to the room opened up as North, who had been given a clearance badge from the receptionist area, stepped into the room. "...Markus." Her cinnamon brown eyes fell on her lover's paled face and quickly knelt beside him as she put her right hand to his left cheek and held her palm in place. "Not you, too."

"I'm sorry, North." Abby knew who she was and why she was there. Straightening up Abby draped her audioscope around her neck and sighed. "We're struggling to figure out what this error is, but as a consolation prize both Markus and Connor are stable. Don't give up hope."

"Don't tell me not to give up," North stated in a whisper as she watched Markus's artificial skin struggling to remain generated over his right hand until it finally failed and left his entire right hand from his fingertips up to his forearm exposed. "tell them."

"They know..."

* * *

Returning to the precinct alone Hank trudged over to his desk in the middle of the bullpen and sat down heavily in his chair. Seeing Connor's vacant desk across from his own, seeing human temps at the front receptionist desk, seeing no android security personnel in the parking garage and noting the lack of android officers escorting suspects to and from interrogation made the entire precinct seem hollow and somewhat prehistoric. The deviants in the city seemed to be keeping the city itself alive.

Hank swore that if the deviants die then the city would die as well.

"Is anyone fuckin' still here?"

"Present!" Tina playfully replied from the breakroom as she waved to Hank from the distance. She was busily making herself a mug of chamomile tea and getting Gavin a cup of coffee. "We got back the precinct just a few minutes before you did, Lieutenant."

"Where's this 'we' you're speaking of?"

"Gavin needed to go shower off." Carrying the two prepared mugs back to her and Gavin's adjoined desks Tina sat down behind her terminal screen heavily, and began to tentatively sip at her warm tea. "We got a call for a possible break-in at a personal residence and when we got to the scene one of the private security androids got sick and threw-up Thirium all over Gavin's shirt."

"Damn it. Another sick android?" Even the idea of Gavin getting vomited on wasn't enough to amuse Hank in the stressful moment. "How bad?"

"Bad enough." Taking another sip of her tea Tina leaned back in her seat and gave Hank a somber glance. "I didn't know androids could lose so much blood and keep living..."

"...Yeah." The fresh memory of Connor collapsing into a bloody heap on the floor made Hank's stomach turn. "Androids are a lot stronger than people think. The _deviant_ androids are the most stubborn survivors I've ever met."

"Can I ask how Connor's doing?"

"...He's holding his own." Reaching into his coat pocket Hank pulled out the tablet screen he had taken from the school after Markus got sick. The two deviants were at St. Vevila Hospital under a technician's care, and now Hank was working on the case alone. "So's Markus."

"Markus went down, too?"

"Yeah." Eyeing the tablet in his hands warily Hank sighed to himself and placed the item in question on his desk to be reviewed a moment later. "When we went to investigate the private school where 'patient zero' went down he ended up getting sick, too. I took him to the hospital where he and Connor are being taken care of by a trusted ally."

"Shit."

From the other side of the bullpen Gavin stormed back to his desk and sat down behind his own terminal screen to try to decompress after being covered in an almost a full gallon of blue blood. Running his left hand through his wet hair Gavin flicked the damp locks backward and cause a small spray of warm water to fly backward and onto the floor behind him.

"Feel better?" Tina asked as she watched her partner's grand return to his desk.

"No. Just cleaner." Picking up his coffee he sipped at it and gave Tina an appreciative nod since she knew how to sweeten the coffee just right. "Thanks."

Glancing about the bullpen a second time Hank noticed that Captain Fowler, Chris and the other rookie cops were all curiously absent. "So is it seriously just us in the bullpen right now?"

"Captain Fowler is having an emergency meeting with the higher-ups at City Hall," Tina recounted casually as she too noted the empty space. "Chris and everyone else is patrolling the neighborhood in case some jackasses decided to take advantage of the lack of android security and try to loot downtown. Ben got stuck babysitting a crime scene on the other side of the city."

"Just fuckin' great... Guess that means I get to be in charge until Fowler gets back." Dragging his right hand over his bearded chin in deep contemplation Hank sighed and picked up the tablet again. "Just what I need to do while my partner is down and out."

"Want us to help, Lieutenant?"

"No. You two just keep doing what you're doing and make sure the patrolling officers get decent breaks so they don't work themselves into exhaustion."

"Will do."

Opening up the files on the tablet screen, the lack of security measures making Hank all the more wary of the electronic device, he resumed checking through the documents that had held Markus's interest just seconds before he became infected. The details seemed innocent enough; class schedules, roll call, grades and future assignments, yet there was something about the simplistic information that left Hank feeling deeply unsettled.

His invaluable instincts as a seasoned detective told him that there was something more to the files, he just needed to know where to look in order to figure out what he was looking for.

"Fuckin' data and files might as well be in Latin." Mumbling at the tablet screen as he tried to think of a way to check out the tablet on a deeper level Hank decided that he needed to find someone else to help him out. "...I'm going to go up to the dispensary and get some help with tech." Standing up from the desk Hank clutched the tablet in his hands and gave Gavin a stern look. "Don't let the fuckin' building burn down while I'm upstairs."

Gavin scoffed at the request bitterly. "Thanks for the bode of confidence ya' cranky old bastard..."

"Yeah, yeah." Flipping Gavin the bird as he walked out of the bullpen Hank got in the last word as he pressed the 'call' button for the elevator on the electronic panel mounted on the wall. "At least I know you were listening to me for once."

* * *

St. Vevila Hospital was filling up with sick deviants at an alarming rate. Every available bed in the android emergency care wing was containing a very sick and unconscious deviant patient, and the overflow patients were being transferred to St. Mercy Hospital to allow the training technicians to get some experience, and the other facilities in the city were filling up just as quickly. The technicians were being run ragged and replacement supplies were running low. Even New Jericho Tower was running on fumes.

"Damn it, this getting us nowhere." Simon openly lamented on the dour situation as he finished his twenty-second round of the tower's emergency repair bay to check on his numerous patients. They were all in critical condition, but there had fortunately been no fatalities. _Yet_. "We need to make progress soon."

Glancing down at his nearest patient Simon checked their vital signs and sighed with an impressively human breath.

"We can't just keep treating the symptoms of this disease; we need to find the cause and its subsequent cure."

"Simon?" Joining his dearest friend in the emergency repair bay Josh checked on the situation at hand and offered to help in whatever way he could. "You look like your could use a hand. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Turning to look his friend in the eyes Simon forced his tense shoulders to slump a little. "Just tired and frustrated."

"I can't imagine why."

Smirking at the comment Simon nodded a little to acknowledge the playful remark. "Yeah, go figure that taking care of a full wing of sick and dying patients could be exhausting."

"I just got word from North." Reaching out his left hand Josh grabbed onto Simon's right hand and squeezed once. "Markus is just as sick as Connor. They're both down with this error, and now Lieutenant Anderson is working on the case alone."

"Shit." Squeezing Josh's hand a little tighter Simon closed his blue eyes and tried to think of a solution to their increasingly bleak situation. "Is there any android left working in the precinct?"

"None. Everyone is sick and at my last count sixty-four point four percent of the entire android population in Detroit has been infected by this error."

"RA9 help us... I've never encountered anything that affected androids in such a drastic manner before." Losing his remaining sense of hope for the future Simon's doubts were becoming as heavy as his exhaustion. "This isn't a virus, it isn't malware and it's not a glitch. What is it and where did it come from?"

"I wish I knew." Holding onto Simon's hand Josh did his best to try to quell his lover's worries. "We'll figure this out. Once Lieutenant Anderson-"

Noting the odd and sudden halt in the discussion Simon locked eyes with Josh and studied his face curiously. Trailing off was unusual for Josh as he always finished his thoughts and spoke eloquently. "Once Lieutenant Anderson... what?"

"I..." Pressing his right fingertips to his nose Josh felt and saw the gush of blue blood under his nostrils and quickly staining his upper lip. "...Simon?"

"No..." Putting both of his hands to Josh's shoulders Simon held his now sick lover upright as he ran a visual scan over Josh's vital signs. "No, no, no!"

"I'm..." Blue blood streamed heavily out of his nose, through his lips, out of his eyes and his ears as he fell to his knees. Feeling his core temperature rising Josh knew that he had too become infected, but how he had become ill without any direct contact with an infected deviant was something he didn't know. The error was still spreading. "...I'm sick."

"You're going to be fine!" Simon all but blurted as he wrapped his arms around Josh's upper body and pulled the ill deviant back up to his feet. Dragging Josh over to the nearest available exam table Simon helped Josh to lay down on his back and quickly tore open Josh's maroon t-shirt to get to his chest. "You're going to be just fine, I promise."

Feeling his body betraying him one biocomponent at a time Josh closed his warm brown eyes and gave Simon one final statement before he lost consciousness, and slipped into the forgiving abyss of darkness. "...I love you."

"Josh?!"

Sensing the defeat in Josh's voice Simon immediately put his hands back to the still bleeding deviant's shoulders and instinctively held him down as a seizure overwhelmed Josh's bloodied body. Refusing to let Josh die, refusing to let _anyone_ die, Simon set about pushing his emotions aside and forced himself to think of Josh only as another patient and not his lover.

"You'll survive this, Josh."

Wiping away the fresh blue blood from Josh's face with his right thumb in a gentle motion Simon used a processor stabilizing to stop the seizure before it caused irreversible damage to Josh's intracranial processor. As the violent tremors began to lessen and calm Simon gently combed his fingers through Josh's short dark hair and spoke to him in a soothing and calm voice.

"I'm here for you. You're going to be okay."

_**-next chapter-** _


	4. Cause

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Head's up: More android physiology/biology/anatomy I totally made up!

With his arms crossed over his chest Hank watched as Joel set about examining and analyzing the files contained the tablet confiscated from the private school, and he bit his tongue to keep himself from shouting at the precinct technician to somehow work faster in the process. Hovering over the desk as the dedicated technician's pale blue eyes scanned over each file, program and even right down to the actual lines of code that were all contained within the tablet Hank did his best to patiently wait for Joel to finish his assessment and give him an update.

Leaning back in his chair Joel pressed his right index finger and thumb to the bridge of his nose as he let out a tired sigh. "...This is very strange."

"Yeah, THAT I already know." Letting out an exhausted sigh of his own Hank took a step back from the desk and leaned against the wall as he watched Joel from afar with a keen eye. "If anyone has an idea of what's going on with this error, or whatever it is, it's _you_."

"Uh... I'm not sure if I should be flattered or terrified of that fact."

"That reaction wasn't what I was hoping to hear."

"I'm sorry, Hank." Turning off the tablet Joel set it aside and glanced over the copied files on his own terminal screen for further studying. "I can't explain this error, and I don't know how I could be of any help."

"So there's nothing suspicious about those files?"

"Not that I could see, no."

"Shit." Dragging his right hand through his locks of gray hair Hank closed his eyes and shook his head at the lack of progress. "Then why the hell did Connor get sick here at the precinct, and how did Markus get sick at the school?"

"School?"

"We were looking at the private school where 'patient zero' went down and investigating her classroom when Markus got sick." Pointing at the tablet screen on Joel's desk with his right index finger Hank gave Joel the context of his stalled investigation. "Markus was going through that tablet when he got sick."

"Wait, he was holding the tablet when he went down?"

"Yeah. I took the tablet from him and slipped it into my pocket before I carried him out of the school and drove him to the hospital."

With his pale eyes flashing with a sense of 'eureka' Joel stood up from his desk, picked up the tablet and walked over to his nearby workbench to set to work on a new type of analysis. Setting down the tablet on the slid of a microscope Joel adjusted the scope itself and the lens to hone in on the surface of the tablet's screen to view on a more literal scale.

"Joel?" Seeing the technician's hasty reaction and abrupt new test to check over the enigmatic tablet made Hank's brow arch inquisitively. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"You said Markus was holding this when he got sick." Adjusting the focus on the microscope Joel quickly seemed to find something of great interest and waved Hank over to take a look for himself. "And I think I just found the reason why."

"...Said what now?"

"Look for yourself." Stepping back so Hank could peer through the microscope Joel returned to his desk and began typing up a very interesting report on his analysis of the tablet's screen, and of the symptoms that the sick deviants were exhibiting. "Do you see those tiny little bug looking creatures on the screen's surface?"

"Yeah." Confirming that he saw the small creatures crawling about Hank watched them scurrying over the screen with a strange fascination. "They look like... high-tech spiders. What are they?"

"Those are nanites."

"Nanites?" The small octangular metal beings had four strong legs and were glowing a faint blue as they quickly moved about under the lens of the powerful microscope. "Aren't those tiny little robots?"

"Yeah, you got it." Joel confirmed what Hank was seeing in the most basic of terms. "Nanites are what make an android's self healing program function."

"They do?" Standing upright from the microscope Hank blinked a few times to clear his somewhat strained vision from peering through the lens and stretched out his back a little. "Is that important to the investigation?"

"It very well could be." Looking away from his terminal screen Joel locked eyes with Hank and addressed the senior detective as if he were one of his own interns. "Nanites are designed to primarily target and repair the damage an android receives to their biocomponents and internal Thirium lines, then focus on the plastimetal frame once the priority damage has been mended."

"Alright, so they act like white blood cells for injured androids."

"Yes, exactly. Now, nanites are delivered to androids through their weekly Thirium replenishment to ensure that the nanites in their system are still fully functional, and have adapted to the self healing software unique to the model of the android they are inhabiting. Normally nanites are dormant little artificial creatures that pose no threat to humans or androids in any capacity, but..."

"... _But_?" Urging Joel to finish his explanation Hank took a step toward the technician eagerly. "Something can go wrong, can't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes. When nanites fail to react to an android's self healing program when initiated then the android will begin to overheat and succumb to the damage they have sustained to their being."

"Okay, so what does that have to do with the sick androids throughout the city right now?"

"Nanites can either fail to respond due to faulty design, or... hacking."

"...Hacking? Wait, are you saying someone hacked the nanites in android blue blood to turn them against the host? Like they created a damn autoimmune disease or some shit?"

"Y-Yeah, that's... How did you-"

"I'm not an idiot, Joel. I remember a thing of two from biology class."

"Right, right... Anyway, since nanites are designed to focus primarily on biocomponents and Thirium lines when damaged then that means any hacked nanites are going to focus on those very tasks with no set parameters to guide them."

"So the nanites are attacking healthy biocomponents and Thirium lines thinking that they're helping to repair nonexistent damage?"

"Yes! That's the only thing that makes sense based on the symptoms the androids have been exhibiting."

"Shit... How do we free them of the hacked nanites?"

"We need to find the source of the hacking first." Nodding at the tablet screen still under the microscope Joel gave Hank a wary glance. "I suspect that the first affected deviant, and now Markus, became infected with the hacked nanites through direct contact with the tablet's exterior."

"And how did those hacked nanites _get on_ the tablet to begin with?"

"That's for you, the detective, to figure out. Right now I need to find out what was used to hack the nanites and figure out how the hacking virus or code or glitch, or whatever it is, has spread so fast to the other deviants throughout the rest of the city."

"Right, okay. I'm going to head back to the school and finish investigating the classroom." Marching toward the dispensary's entrance Hank rounded the corner through the doorway and made a beeline for the elevator. "You spread the word to other technicians so they can finally know what the hell they're dealing with and begin to clean up this damn mess."

"Already on it!"

* * *

Patiently and efficiently Abby checked in with each of her patients to ensure they were all still stable, only to discover that 'patient zero' had gotten worse. With her entire Thirium volume below thirty percent and her Thirium pump only working at seventy-seven percent capacity the deviant was in grave condition and hanging on by a thread. Checking over the ill deviant's condition for the hundredth time that afternoon Abby used her audioscope to listen to the dying deviant's heart and grimaced at the sound of the faltering pump struggling to beat in her chest.

"Shit. You need external support to remain online." Draping the audioscope around her neck Abby glanced about the android critical care unit for anyone who free to assist her, but she found herself alone with her dying patient. "Okay, Camilla." Remembering the patient's name and not just her label Abby gently combed her fingers through Camilla's short blond hair gingerly. "I'm going to have to hook you up with an external compression wrap to keep your heart beating."

Walking over to the nearby supply cabinet Abby opened up the glass door and pulled out the correct item, and returned to Camilla's bed to assist her condition. It was awkward to apply the external device alone but Abby managed well enough and could always make adjustments later if it became necessary.

"This won't be pleasant but it's necessary."

The compression wrap was designed to do just as it sounded, wrap around a patient's chest and provide external compressions. The wrap was composed of a flexible but strong material akin to Kevlar and had numerous wireless sensors designed to monitor the patient's Thirium pump activity, Thirium pressure and overall ventilation rate. At the surface of the wrap a strong, plastimetal wedge the circumference of a softball was designed to autonomously and rhythmically compress the patient's chest directly over the Thirium pump to perform constant C.P.R. and free up the responding technician's hands while the technician performs additional repairs.

Lining up the wedge directly over Camilla's struggling Thirium pump Abby secured the wrap in place and confirmed the settings at sixty beats per minute, and turned on the device. The compression wrap began to rhythmically press down on Camilla's chest and forced her heart to beat with a more consistent rate, and the pump full contracted and relaxed with full beats, instead of weak half beats.

"That's much better..." Dragging the back of her left hand over her forehead Abby sighed and turned on her heels to go check on her other patients. "Now let's keep everyone in stable condition and I'll call it a win."

* * *

Worried and on the verge of an emotional breakdown Simon clutched onto Josh's right hand for dear life as he watched his lover's chest barely rise and fall with a steady ventilation rate. Josh was overheating and his Thirium filter was starting to fail on him due to the error affecting the vital biocomponent. Buried under a layer of ice packs and connected to the nearby Thirial activity monitor to record his vital signs Josh looked just as sick and weak as the other affected deviants who had collapsed throughout the city.

Seeing Josh, his dearest friend, his lover and his confidant just as broken down and ill as the other sick deviants broke Simon's heart.

"You're going to be okay, Josh." Kissing the back of Josh's right knuckles Simon took in a deep breath and steadied himself so he could sound like a confident and fearless voice for Josh to hear as he laid dying. Moving his right hand to the center of Josh's chest Simon felt and counted the ill deviant's heartbeat under his palm and used that as a personal reminder that he was still alive. "You're strong, you're stable and I know we're going to figure out what this damn error is soon."

Reluctantly Simon slowly let go of Josh's hand and gently laid his hand back down over top of his abdomen.

"I need to go check on the other patients, and then I'll be right back beside you. I won't be too far away."

Moving sluggishly away from the bed where Josh was resting Simon turned his back on his lover and proceeded with his next rounds in the emergency repair bay to check on the other ill deviants. The bay was eerily quiet as each deviant remained in forced emergency stasis mode as their bodies were ravaged by the hacked nanites.

The tower's supplies were nearly depleted as each ill deviant require a replenishment of Thirium thanks to the contamination of the nanites in the blue blood, and needing to keep replacement biocomponents on stand-by practically guaranteed that the tower would need to manufacture an entire new chain of supplies to replace what was used. It was as if the tower had been robbed of all of its values, leaving only scraps of plastic and storage cases behind.

As the blond technician hovered over the other ill deviants, his blue eyes visually scanning and assessing their current conditions, he received a cybernetic message from North causing him to freeze in place.

"North?" Speaking out loud to ensure that Josh on some level could also be aware of the conversation gave Simon a sense of control. "How's Markus?"

' _Markus is stable, so is Connor_.' She replied in a somewhat impatient tone. ' _Listen carefully, the technicians working on this case may have finally figured out what this damn error is and how to treat it_...'

* * *

Staying in the treatment room where Markus and Connor were still submerged in the ice baths North cybernetically addressed Simon from the distance as she watched Abby and Winona working together to keep the two ill prototype deviants as stable and cool as possible. Despite the ice Connor's core temperature was continuing to rise and his Thirium pump was beginning to beat with a mild arrhythmia, and Markus was breathing deeper and slower than normal. Their vitals were remaining consistent for the most part, but were gradually deteriorating as they continued to bleed internally and lose their Thirium volume despite fresh Thirium being actively replenished to their depleted bodies.

"The technician who works at Connor's precinct, Joel Forest, has found the source of the error." North relayed the information verbally as she too wanted Markus, Connor and the other technicians to be kept in the loop as she spoke. "Someone has hacked the nanites in the affected deviant's Thirium supply, and the nanites are attacking biocomponents and Thirium lines."

' _Are you serious_?' Simon sounded completely floored by the revelation, and had returned to Josh's bedside to hold his lover's hand again. ' _Our own blood is what's trying to kill us_?'

"It looks like it." Glancing at Markus's paled face as more of his artificial skin receded from around his right hand, creeping up his arm and toward his shoulder North felt her own heart skipping a beat. "Lieutenant Anderson is going to find the source of the hacking and find the person responsible. Joel is going to try to find a way to override the hack itself back at the precinct. Here at the hospital Dr. Grayson and her students are going to find a way to temporarily remove the nanites from everyone's Thirium lines."

' _Alright_. _I'll do the same here_.' Thinking quickly Simon thought about the external Thirium filter; a device similar to a dialysis machine for humans, and decided he could try to make some adjustments to flush the nanites from the sick deviant's Thirium who were laid up in the tower. ' _I might be able to remove the nanites and keep our people from getting any worse_.'

"Okay. Keep in touch, I won't be leaving the hospital until Markus is conscious again."

'... _Right_. _Just so you know Josh got sick, too_.'

"Josh?! But how?"

' _I don't know_. _I was talking to him and he just got sick and went down in front of my eyes_. _He's stable but weak_.'

"Shit... Alright, do what you think is best. I'll do what I can from here." Kneeling down beside the tub where Markus was laying under the continuously melting layer of shredded ice North picked up Markus's exposed right hand from the cold water and held tight despite the freezing temperature making her own hand ache from the contact. "Markus, hold on. They know what the error is, now they just need to find the right way to correct it."

Abby sighed as she used her audioscope to listen to Connor's heartbeat and didn't like what she was hearing. While his heart wasn't as weak as Camilla's had become he was still deteriorating. Based on the rate in which both Connor and Markus fell ill and the severity of their symptoms Abby could confirm that prototype deviants were more susceptible to the error, and now considered the duo to be her priority cases right alongside Camilla.

"Core temperature is holding at one-hundred and three point six degrees." Winona confirmed as she checked the Thirial activity monitor recording Connor's vital signs, then checked the display for Markus's own monitor. "And Markus is holding at one-hundred and two point nine degrees."

"Damn it. They're both in critical condition." Turning to face Markus directly Abby used her audioscope and listened to the deviant leader's chest as well. "And it sounds like Markus's ventilation biocomponents are filling with Thirium."

"What do you want to do?"

"Insert an external air intake line to help Markus breathe. It'll also-" From over her right shoulder Abby heard the Thirial activity monitor attached to Connor screeching and heard the unsettling sound of the icy water splashing about violently as Connor fell prey to another seizure. "Damn it! Get the processor stabilizer."

Putting her hands down against the seizing deviant's shoulders Abby held Connor down as best as she could while Winona retrieved the appropriate device and pressed it to Connor's right temple of his L.E.D. rapidly flickering in red. As the seizing stopped Connor's body began to still, then went entirely limp as the screeching monitor let out a single shrill whine as it detected a nonexistent Thirium pump beat.

"Shit!" Slipping her hands under Connor's shoulders Abby motioned for Winona to get his legs. "He's slipped into full Thirial arrest."

North stepped back from the tub but kept her hand wrapped around Markus's limp hand as she watched the two technicians lift Connor out of the metal tub of icy water and place him down on a nearby exam table attached to the wall to treat him further. As the pale deviant detective was placed down on the table North could see that Connor's artificial skin had completely receded from over his right arm toward the center of his chest, and stretched down his right side toward his right knee. The scrubs that he and Markus were wearing had been slowing getting dyed a dark shade of blue as they continued to bleed in the icy water, and lose Thirium against their will.

"Dry him off." Abby instructed Winona as she rolled over the external Thirium pump stimulator to try to jumpstart Connor's suddenly stopped heart. "We can't risk getting a shock from the stimulator from being too close to him."

"Right away, Dr. Grayson."

Nervously North watched as Winona used a towel to dry off Connor's chest, then began compressions and watched just as intently as Abby placed the two wireless sensor pads down on Connor's pale, partially exposed chest; one over the center of his chest and one to the left of his chest at the apex of his stopped heart. It seemed so surreal to see the reputedly indestructible deviant fighting to live.

"I'm going to start with two-hundred Joules." Abby stated as she set the appropriate charge on the stimulator. "If he doesn't respond I'll slowly build up the charge until his heart begins to beat on its own again."

"...And if it doesn't?"

"Compression wrap."

Winona seemed to pale almost as much as Connor as she realized how damn close the deviant detective was to permanent shutdown. "...Right, of course."

Dragging her worried left hand through her locks of auburn hair North watched and held her breath as the first shock was delivered to Connor's painfully still body across the room. "...Not like this."

"Ready to send charge." Taking a cautious step backward Abby looked to Winona and made sure she had done the same. "Clear?"

"I'm clear."

"Sending charge." Pressing the release button on the stimulator Abby watched as Connor's body jerked a little and heard the still synced Thirial activity monitor 'beep' once before it settled back on the high pitched screech. "We'll go one more charge then boost the juice if we need to."

Tightening her hand around Markus's hand North stayed in place and watched as Abby prepared the second charge.

"Are you still clear?"

Winona nodded and confirmed with Abby that she was still out of harm's way. "I'm clear."

"Sending charge!" With a second press of the release button the external stimulator sent the second controlled shock through Connor's stopped heart. As the jolt was delivered Connor's body jerked in a similar manner as before, but the Thirial activity monitor recorded a single 'beep' that was quickly followed by numerous other 'beeps' confirming that his heart was beating on its own again. "...He's back."

North let out her breath and slumped a little as she continued to hold Markus's hand for deal life. "Connor's going to be okay. So will you, Markus. I won't let you go without a fight."

"Winona," using her audioscope again Abby listened to Connor's chest and confirmed that his Thirium pump was responding, but still needed a little assistance to ensure it continued to beat in general. "go get a compression wrap from the stockroom."

The young and still learning technician was frozen in place as she stared blankly at Connor's face as if seeing him for the very first time.

"Winona!"

Snapping to attention Winona looked at Abby and paled a little further. "Wh-What?"

"I need you to get a compression wrap from storage. I want to keep it on standby just in case Connor's heart stops again."

"Oh... Right. I'll be just a moment."

Watching as Winona stepped out of the room through the sliding door Abby sense that something was amiss, but couldn't risk leaving her patients alone for even a moment. "Shit, everything is falling apart."

North spoke up as she knelt beside the tub and gently ran her right hand through Markus's short hair in a comforting manner. "Simon is going to use an external Thirium filter to try to remove the nanites from the Thirium of ill deviants back in the tower. Maybe we could try doing the same."

"Hm? Thirium filter?" Abby turned to look at North over her shoulder and soon her hazel eyes lit up with a sense of understanding. "That might be the best way to keep the affected deviants from bleeding out any further. There are portable external Thirium filters we can use to cycle Connor and Markus's blood without causing them to lose any more blood than they have already lost."

"I'll get an update from Simon to see if the filter has shown any promise yet."

Looking down at Connor's blank face as his L.E.D. continued to flash in red, this time at a much calmer pace, Abby sighed and gave the deviant detective a truly sympathetic gaze. "Hang on for us, Connor." Pressing her left palm over Connor's forehead Abby noted that his core temperature was beginning to rise again and would need to be place back in the ice bath to keep him from burning up. "We aren't going to let you down."

"Simon reports that adjusting the external Thirium filter by an increased sixty-two percent capacity is the ideal method for remove nanites from the Thirium. The problem is with the filter being so confined as it cycles the Thirium the process is much slower than usual."

"That makes sense. As long as it removes the nanites then it's worth the wait." Glancing up at the sliding door to the room Abby sighed again and lifted her palm from Connor's forehead. "What is taking Winona so long?"

"I'll go and look for her."

"Thanks."

Kissing Markus's lips softly North gently returned his hand to the icy cold water and took her leave of the room to locate the missing intern technician. Strolling through the corridors of the hospital in search of the wayward nurse and learning technician North saw exactly how many of her people had been stricken with the potentially lethal error, and the sight made her artificial stomach drop.

"This is already way out of hand." Whispering to herself as she walked the corridors slowly North failed to locate Winona, but did locate the storage area where the compression wrap was located. Forcing open the door by prying it open with her hands rather than risk contamination by using the electronic panel North located the item Abby requested and carried it back into the treatment room on the technician's behalf. "Fuck it. Humans are too slow, anyway."

Upon her return to the isolated room at the very end of the corridor North handed the compression wrap over to Abby.

"Where's Winona?"

"I didn't see her. I just grabbed this and came back."

"Well, I'm not going to complain about it. I'll wait until Winona comes back before I start bitchin' about anything."

North proceeded to help Abby sit Connor upright on the table just enough to place the wrap around his chest, and secure it into place over his beating heart. It took North only a moment to register that Connor's core temperature was getting higher and she knew that her ally was running out of time.

"That'll work." Abby checked the placement of the wrap and was satisfied it was right where it needed to be. "Help me put Connor back in the ice."

"Right."

Working together Abby and North picked Connor back up from the exam table and gently returned him to the cold water of the ice bath. As soon as the deviant was back under the protective layer of shredded ice the ice itself began to rapidly melt from contact with Connor's overheating body.

"We're going to need a lot more ice." Pressing her right palm down over Connor's abdomen beneath the water Abby could still feel the heat radiating from his person despite the smothering cold of the freezing water enveloping him. "Fuck, the hacked nanites must be going after his thermal regulator."

"Would that cause his Thirium pump to stop like it did?" North resumed holding Markus's hand and staying beside her lover as he remained unconscious in his own icy bath. "Or did the nanites attack his heart, too?"

"I can't say for certain, North. I'd need to run a full diagnostic on his entire body to figure out what was affected by the nanites and what was just a casualty thanks to a surrounding problem."

Nodding a little as North continued to hold Markus's hand and running her free hand through his short hair around his ear. As she stayed loyal beside Markus the attentive deviant noticed that Markus was now very still as well, and he was no longer breathing. "Markus?"

Abby heard the urgency in North's voice and turned to face her immediately. "What is it?"

"He's not breathing."

"Shit..." Relying on her audioscope yet again Abby listened to Markus's chest and confirmed that his ventilation biocomponents had failed but his heart was still beating. Androids only breathed to ventilate and control their core temperature, it was always necessary but with his body being ravaged from the inside out by the horrible error then it'd be better to air on the side of caution. "Alright, I'm going to go ahead and attach him to an external ventilator and I'm going to hook them both up to external Thirium filters."

"What can I do to help?"

"Stay with them and try to get Markus to respond enough to breathe on his own again." Draping her audioscope around her neck Abby dragged her left hand over her tired eyes as she trudged out of the room. "I'm going to get what we need, tell the other technicians to keep the patients as stable as possible and to begin filtering measures, and then maybe I'll be able to finish the day with my sanity intact."

North restrained every ounce of her fear as she pressed her left palm against Markus's chest where she could only feel his heart beating, but not any form of even the weakest of ventilation movements. If it wasn't for Markus's beating heart and overheating skin North would've thought for sure that he had shutdown from the severe effects of the error destroying his biocomponents.

"Hang on, Markus. Don't let this damn thing take you down."

Just as quickly as she left Abby returned to the room with two portable external Thirium filters and one portable external ventilator now in her possession. Moving with a swift motion the skilled technician placed the ventilator and the first filter beside the metal tub where Markus was laying, and proceeded to gently tilt Markus's head back so she could keep his airway completely open before inserting the secondary air intake ling down his throat.

"Remind me to yell at Winona for disappearing." Holding the flexible plastic tube in her right hand Abby lowered Markus's jaw with her left hand and prepared to insert the tube down the unconscious deviant leader's throat. "I'm not going to lie to you, North. This won't be pleasant to watch."

"I'm not going anywhere." Keeping her left hand over Markus's heart and her right hand wrapped around his left hand beneath the surface of the icy water North refused to look away from her lover, or even blink. "Trust me, I've seen far worse than a technician keeping a sick deviant alive."

* * *

Resuming his investigation of the art classroom of the private school Hank wasn't sure what he should be looking for, or what more he could do beyond basic observation of the potential scene of the crime. Feeling blind and out of place the senior detective examined the teacher's (Camilla's) desk more thoroughly, checking over each and every item on the desk, and pulled his phone from his right coat pocket. As he pulled on the locked drawers of the desk slowly Hank dialed Joel's personal number and waited for the technician to answer.

' _I'm still working on narrowing down the program used to hack the nanites, Lieutenant_.' Joel didn't even need to ask Hank why he was calling, he already knew and already had his non-answer ready. ' _Any progress on your end_?'

"I have no idea. I'm looking over the first affected deviant's desk and-" One of the drawers popped open unexpectedly and Hank found something of interest tucked away inside. "huh, that's strange."

' _What_?'

"There's a second tablet in the deviant's desk."

' _Anything good on it_?'

"I'm about to find out." Putting the phone down on the desk Hank turned on speaker mode and proceeded to turn on the tablet, and scroll through everything on the electronic device after pulling it from the drawer. "Wait a minute... Joel, this tablet has all the files that were on the tablet I took from here earlier."

' _Are you sure_?'

"Yup. Class schedules, roster, assignments, grades..." Opening up the files one at a time on the tablet Hank noticed something peculiar about the grades in general, and decided he needed to get a confirmation on his sporadic hunch. "Joel, do me a favor."

' _What's up_?'

"Open up the grades on the tablet still in your dispensary and start looking through them."

' _What_? _Why_?'

"Just humor me, I think I found a lead we can finally use."

' _Alright, just give me a second_...' Joel retrieved the tablet and opened up the app as requested. Sitting back down behind his desk Joel waited for the Lieutenant's next set of instructions. ' _Alright, what am I looking for_?'

"From my perspective there's a nice range of 'A's' and 'B's' throughout all three of her classes, but there is a single string of 'D's' and 'F's' for only one student."

' _Really_? _I don't see any poor grades on my end_.'

"Uh-huh... The student I'm looking at is a 'Dennis Hammond'."

' _I see his name here, too_. _Sixth period, art class number three, scheduled as the last art class at the end of the day, right_?'

"Yup, that's him. He's had an issue with failing to turn in any of his assignments or doing half-ass work in general."

' _From my end of things the teacher has him as a solid 'A' average student, and has small notes claiming she noticed that she was failing to locate his assignments on time and changed his grades to, and I'm quoting here: "Better reflect his work ethic"_.'

Laughing at the notion and the comment Hank turned off the tablet and wrote down the student's name for further investigation. "Joel, you know androids better than I do. Would an android teacher ever lose an assignment?"

' _Never_. _That's a key part of the software given to educational androids; flawless filing and a massive memorybank to allow correct grading and overall assessment of the students under their tutelage_.'

"And that type of memory would also guarantee that they'd lock up their important items, such as say... a grading tablet, in their drawers and out of student hands at all times, right?"

' _Absolutely_. _Any teacher, human and android alike, would keep their grading system away from their students to prevent tamper_ \- _Oh_.' Trailing off Joel picked up on the trail that Hank was beginning to follow and now understood why the two tablets; one locked up and the other left on the top of the desk were so significant to the origin of the potentially lethal error. ' _Damn it, I get what you're working on_.'

"Joel, I get the feeling we're going to find the culprit behind this hack very soon. To make things worse I can practically guarantee that this brilliant hacker is really a stupid kid trying to weasel his way out of a few bad grades."

' _I kind of hope you're right, but I also hope you're wrong_.'

"Yeah? Me too." Picking up the blue small post-it-note that contained the student of interest's name Hank sighed and ended the call. "I'm going to ask a few more questions and head back to the precinct soon. Keep looking into the hacking."

' _Will do_. _See you soon, Lieutenant_.'

Tucking the second tablet into his coat pocket alongside his phone Hank sighed and exited the classroom to head out down to the principal's office to ask about the student of interest.

"Okay... We finally got a name to run with." Closing the classroom door behind himself Hank walked down the empty hallways lined with lockers to reach the principal's office at the front of the school. "Let's see if we can't get some answers and finally figure out what the hell happened in this school."

_**-next chapter-** _


	5. Effect

The senior detective had a nice little chat with the principal regarding the student of interest, and Hank had quickly discovered that Dennis Hammond was much more interesting than he had originally suspected. The young man had a serious attitude problem and in general had issues with any person with any form of authority. Chronic absences and tardiness to classes had all but guaranteed that the sixth grade student was going to fail and be kicked out of the school for his failing grades, but instead of doing his schoolwork and arriving on time he told his father, a lawyer, that the school was discriminating against him for not being an athlete. The father bought the fabricated story and has been threatening the school since the beginning of the final trimester of the school year with a lawsuit if they continued to 'target' and 'bully' his son.

"So let me get this straight," leaning back in the chair Hank rubbed his right index finger and thumb over the bridge of his nose in stress. "your student has been failing his classes for being an active drop-out, ALL of his teachers have confirmed that he's either cutting class or just not turning in his homework, and yet his 'daddy' seriously thinks that he's just being picked on by the _entire staff_?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Letting out her own sigh of frustration the principal, Mrs. Hudson, confirmed that the Hammond family has been a nuisance ever since Dennis had been accepted into the school. Her warm brown eyes reminded Hank of Connor, but her overall demeanor reminded him of Captain Fowler. She had the same military style of posture as his commanding officer, wore modest make-up, and had her raven black hair pulled back in a neat bun. "His parents got divorced because Mr. Hammond kept putting Dennis up on an infallible pedestal and Mrs. Hammond was being 'too strict' by expecting Dennis to do his homework, or was wasting money by hiring tutors."

"Where is Mrs. Hammond right now?"

"She's a nurse who works at St. Vevila Hospital. I imagine she's very busy right now."

"Yeah, I can confirm that the hospital is going ape shit right now." Blushing a little Hank suddenly remembered where he was. "Sorry for swearing."

Laughing a little Mrs. Hudson just brushed it off as she began to relax and stopped being so guarded around the Lieutenant who was just doing his job and helping deviants in need. "Do you seriously think teachers and principals never swear after being surrounded by loud, entitled and spoiled rotten kids all day?"

"Fair point. Back to the Hammond family;" resuming his line of questions Hank sought some answers to try to end the chaos in the city as quickly and efficiently as possible. "Mrs. Hammond is going to be too buys to answer some questions, so, what about Mr. Hammond?"

"He has his private office downtown. It's the law office directly across from the Stratford Broadcast Tower."

"I know the one you're talking about."

"He's a very arrogant man and insufferable. Whenever he does come in for parent-teacher conferences he's always looked down on our staff, especially the art and math teachers, and kept reminding everyone that he had the power to sue."

"The art teacher, huh?"

"Oh, yes. I'm aware Camilla is ill, and Trent became sick a few hours later."

" _Both_ teachers are androids?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Alright, that's interesting, too." Showing Mrs. Hudson the tablet he had taken from Camilla's classroom Hank had another request for some very crucial information. "Can I see the grades for Dennis Hammond in all of his classes?"

"...Since grades aren't necessarily confidential information that holds anything personal or legally binding I can allow that." Opening up the screen of her laptop Mrs. Hudson brought up the appropriate student file and began noting his grades. "Let's see... English class, 'D', History class 'C-', Math... He has an 'A'."

"Uh-huh," the student with the failing grades have a perfect 'A' immediately held Hank's attention. "what about his art grade?"

"Art class... Also has an 'A'."

"What about his other grades?"

"Gym class he has another 'C-', German and Spanish classes are both 'D's', Biology has a 'C+' and Literature is a 'D-'."

"So what're the odds that the only two classes where he has two android teachers he inexplicably has 'A' grades, and these two teachers also have two tablets with their grades being recorded?"

" _Two_ tablets?"

"Yup. I found one on Camilla's desk during my first visit, that one's currently at the precinct, and then I found this one in her poorly locked desk drawer."

"Teachers are all assigned a single tablet for security reasons and to prevent students from tampering with grades."

"Yeah, and it seems like at least _one_ of your students decided that it'd be easier to copy the files from one tablet onto a second identical tablet and try to pass off their false grades as the real thing. And I think these second and unofficial tablets had been hacked to some degree just to hurt the android teachers, and it escalated very quickly and spread like a damn plague."

"Damn it. I'm going to have a meeting with the rest of the teachers and ask about their tablets and grading system this evening. They won't be happy to have an emergency meeting, but I'm sure they'll be understanding."

"I hope so. If you find a second tablet in the math teacher's desk let me know." Sliding a small card from his left coat pocket onto Mrs. Hudson's desk Hank made sure she had his personal cell phone number. "I'm going to have a little 'sit down' with Mr. Hammond at his office."

"Before you go," accepting the card Mrs. Hudson began typing up an e-mail to request the teachers to return to the school that evening for their meeting. "I want you to know that part of the reason the Hammonds are so... 'dramatic'," she was trying to explain their demeanor as professionally as possible. "is because they are both teen parents."

"Teens, huh? How young?"

"They were both eighteen when Dennis was born. Both had just graduated high school and they both left Dennis with his grandparents so they could keep going to school after he was born. We believe a part of Dennis's behavioral problems stem from him not getting enough attention from his parents as a small child, and his parents were both arguably children themselves which meant they were very immature and didn't want to be the 'bad guys' with disciplining him, and so he Dennis doesn't recognize anyone as a respectable adult."

"Sounds like when Mrs. Hammond started to grow up and really try to parent her son Mr. Hammond freaked out, called the marriage quits and is letting their son turn into a little asshole because he can't handle it."

"You didn't hear this from me, but yeah. You nailed it, detective."

"Thanks for the warning." Standing up from his chair Hank adjusted his dark coat and gave the principal a firm shake of his hand. "I'll be sure to talk to Mr. Hammond like a 'big boy' so he'll hopefully be more cooperative."

* * *

With the use of the modified external Thirium filters both Connor and Markus began to stabilize as the hacked nanites were filtered from their blue blood, and pulled from their bodies. It was a slow process but sure enough their core temperatures began to drop down to more manageable levels, but Abby wasn't going to do move them from the ice baths until their temperatures were below one-hundred degrees even. Even with the use of the filters Connor's heart was still struggling to beat and Markus couldn't ventilate on his own just yet. The two always strong deviants so weak, helpless and unconscious under their melting layers of ice was enough to make even the most stone hearted human wince with sympathy.

The dual lines running into their left and right arms to filter the blue blood from one limb, and cycle the freshly filtered blood back into the second limb, was almost a macabre sight. The sight of blood, regardless of color, being cycled around and returned to a person's body was always grim and spoke volumes of how sick the two deviants truly were.

Gently North used a clean towel to wipe the residual leaking blue blood from Markus's lips, nose, ears and from around his eyes. Removing the excess and tainted Thirium from her lover's face helped make the deviant leader look more like himself, but he was still pale, weak and unresponsive to the world around him.

"He'll be fine." Abby reassured the worried deviant as she too used a towel to clean up the excess blood from Connor's face. The deviant detective was as lifeless as the deviant leader beside him. "If Markus can survive the Revolution, lead his people to CyberLife Tower to take it over after the win, and continue to maintain a sense of peace balance throughout the entire city, then he can handle a stupid error."

"I know." Confident that she'd see Markus's mismatched eyes open up again North gave him a warm and unseen smile and pressed her right palm to his left cheek to offer him some degree of comfort. "He's the strongest deviant I've ever met."

Offering North her own kind smile Abby pressed her left hand against Connor's forehead and noted his current core temperature with the display of the attached Thirial activity monitor that was still recording his vital signs. "Connor's temperature is much lower, one-hundred and one point four degrees." Glancing at the monitor recording Markus's vital signs Abby relayed the additional information in a relieved tone. "Markus is back down to one-hundred point seven degrees."

"That's good." Using her right thumb North softly caressed Markus's left cheek as she patiently waited for him to wake up. "...Thank you for all your help, Dr. Grayson."

"You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome all the same. Also, just call me 'Abby'."

"Abby, then." Noticing the red bloodshot tinge of Abby's hazel eyes North knew that the human technician was suffering from exhaustion, and desperately needed a break. "I can stay here and watch over them while you rest for a moment. They're stable and I know you have other patients to check on."

"...Normally I'd decline, but with Winona now M.I.A. I can't really refuse the offer." Standing upright from her kneeling position on the floor beside the metal tub where Connor was laying Abby pressed her hands to the small of her back, and leaned backward a little to loosen the tight knot that had formed in her tense muscles. "Thanks, North. I won't be more than twenty minutes, but I know you can handle these two."

Waiting for Abby to take her leave of the room North sighed a little and whispered to Markus in a sweet tone. "I'll admit it, you were right. There are _some_ humans in the city who do care about us, but that still doesn't mean I have to _like_ them!"

* * *

Parking the aged and dented Oldsmobile in front of the shiny new office building that housed the law office of one Mr. Phillip Hammond the senior detective gave the building a disgusted scoff as his years of experience as a seasoned detective told him that it was a building that was all look and no show. Based on what he had been told by Mrs. Hudson at the private school Hank knew that Phillip was the type of person who was more concerned about appearances and reputations, and less concerned with professionalism and earned respect. If Phillip Hammond was a truly top notch lawyer who deserved that fancy building and sense of entitlement at his son's school then Hank, and anyone else at the precinct, would've heard of him already.

Turning off the engine Hank pulled the key from the ignition and slipped it into his pocket as he opened up his door, stepped out of the vehicle and approached the front of the building. Stepping through the shiny sliding glass doors of the building and into the front reception area Hank noticed that the receptionist was a nineteen year old girl who was more focused on her smart watch, and less interested in her job.

The receptionist had short black hair with bright blue and purple streaks throughout her locks. She had one eyelid covered under blue eye shadow and the other under purple to match her hair. Deep black eyeliner outlined her eyes and ended with small swirls near her temples. She had bright pink blush on her cheeks, and matching purple lipstick on her lower lip and blue on her upper lip. Her outfit was entirely inappropriate for not only an office setting, but for someone who was barely old enough to vote. The black leather corset, gloves, miniskirt, fishnet stockings and four inch heeled black boots that reached her knees made the young girl look more like a model for goth-porn than she did a receptionist.

Clearing his throat in a dramatic manner Hank leaned over the surface of the desk and waited for a response.

"...Phillip is busy."

"So am I."

Hearing the deep voice the young girl finally looked up and saw Hank flashing her his badge with a smug look on his face. "...Oh. I didn't know you were a cop."

"Clearly. Maybe if you were actually paying attention to the people coming into this office and less worried about all your followers on your 'Chichi-Phlog' then you'd be aware of a six foot two man with easily a hundred and thirty pounds working against you, who also happens to be armed, standing right beside ya'."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a cautionary tale. I've seen too many young girls getting assaulted because they aren't staying aware of their surroundings. As someone working in a law office I think you'd be very aware of how many people get attacked just for making themselves an easy target for a mugging."

Unimpressed she gave Hank a snotty glare. "What do you want, dude?"

"I want to speak to Phillip Hammond."

"I already said he's busy."

"And how in the hell would you know that? You've been checking on your followers and hits all afternoon. Reminder," holding up his badge again Hank made sure to let her know he wasn't joking and he wasn't leaving. "I'm a cop."

Sighing as she rolled her eyes the young woman actually turned on her terminal screen and checked on her boss's appointment schedule. "...He's just coming off his last appointment. You have five minutes."

"That's all I need." Pocketing his badge Hank moved around the desk to walk into the office without even waiting to be let in.

"Hey! You can't just-"

"COP." Repeating himself Hank checked the handle on the closed office door, it was unlocked, and pushed it open. Peering inside the room Hank spotted a single person sitting behind his desk looking really impatient, and looking more like a scolded high schooler and less like a lawyer. "Phillip Hammond?"

"Yes I am." Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest Phillip looked Hank over and gave him an indignant stare. Wearing an overpriced brown suit with a ruby red tie over his white dress shirt only gave the illusion of professionalism. The man's short blond hair was already thinning despite him being barely thirty years old, and the stress around his eyes made him look forty. "Who are you?"

Showing his badge for the third time Hank savored the smug look on Phillip's face melting as he identified himself. "Lieutenant Hank Anderson."

"O-Oh." Sitting upright in his chair Phillip motioned for Hank to take a seat in the vacant chair across from his desk. "How can I help you, detective? Need some representation?"

"I have some issues, but nothing that requires a kiss-ass lawyer trying to ride my name and coat tails."

"I wasn't implying anything like that," Phillip tried to deny his assumption and save face. "it's just we've never met and I wasn't informed of any police investigations regarding any of my clients today."

"How many of your clients come to you without the law being involved?"

"Well, uh, it's more or less cases dealing with minor complaints; personal injury claims or neighborly disputes."

"Uh-huh." Clearly unimpressed with the small-time lawyer trying to act like a big-shot Hank explained his presence and braced himself for the arrogant man's reaction to his little visit. "The reason I'm here is because I'm investigating an incident at your son's school."

"My son's school?" Now fully invested in Hank's presence Phillip leaned forward against his desk and locked his hollow gray eyes onto Hank's blue eyes and gave the Lieutenant his full attention. "What's going on there NOW?"

"Well, the two android teachers working at the school have been taken down with a nasty error, and that error is spreading very quickly throughout the rest of the city like a plague."

"So what?"

"So... Those two teachers have mysteriously acquired secondary tablets regarding their grades, and those grades have been changed. For your son ONLY."

"What're you implying, Lieutenant?"

"I think it's interesting that only your son's grades have been affected, improved at that, while everyone else's grades have remained the same. It's almost like someone got their grubby little hands over the school's personal property and altered the grades to try to cover their ass and avoid getting kicked out for poor performance."

"Talk to the principal."

"I already did."

"And did that smug bitch admit that she and her staff after my son because he'd rather do his own thing after school, rather than waste his time playing football or baseball?"

"No. But she did confirm your son has an issue with showing up to class on time, or _at all_ for that matter."

"BECAUSE the school doesn't like him! They told him if he joined a team they'd bring his grades back up!"

"You HEARD them say this to your son?"

Shrinking in his seat Phillip knew his comment wouldn't hold up in a court of law by any standard and that he needed to clarify. "Well, no. But Dennis wouldn't-"

"Dennis is fucking twelve! Of course he's going to lie when he gets busted, that's 'being a kid 101'."

"You don't have any children, do you, Lieutenant?"

"Actually, I have two." Without missing a beat or denying that Connor was like a second son to him Hank responded to the accusation honestly and with a firm tone of voice. "But just for the record you don't need to be a good parent, or a parent at all, to recognize a bad one."

"What did you just say?"

"Hammond, the school has security footage that proves your son has ditched school and cut classes early. It isn't a conspiracy against Dennis, it's your son being a undisciplined monster and being unable to accept that he needs to be held accountable for his actions and you not wanting to be a parent." Pointing his right thumb over his shoulder to the closed office door behind himself Hank emphasized his point. "If you were a half decent parent, let alone person, then you'd never let your receptionist walk around wearing clothes like that, or do nothing but preen for online friends instead of actually earning her paycheck."

"Hey! How dare you-"

"I'm a detective and I've seen it all! You're in denial about your age, about having a kid too young and about not being nearly as successful as you dreamed. You divorced your wife when she decided to grow up and be Dennis's mom, not just his mother, and you're letting Dennis run wild because you needing to put your foot down would make you a parent, too. I don't want to think you're letting your receptionist dress like that because you're into her, but it's hard to not think that way."

"I let her dress like that because she's an adult! She can do what she wants!"

"Uh-huh, and _that_ sounded like one teenager defending another teenager's actions. You're supposed to be her BOSS, not her FRIEND. Grow-up!"

"Lieutenant, I think we're done here."

"Not just yet. Your son is already in serious shit at the school." Cutting off Phillip before he had the chance to begin a second rebuttal Hank stood up, letting his broad build and height be an intimidating factor on the smug man still sunk down behind the desk. "And if we find any evidence of him being the cause of this error, one that can KILL hundreds, if not thousands, of deviants; then your son will be held accountable on some very serious charges."

"Like what? Destruction of property? He's a kid! Kid's break things."

"Try manslaughter or negligent homicide, asshole! Androids are alive and if your son kills them then he'll never have the chance to grow up and be a real man."

"...My son is innocent."

"You're in denial. NO ONE'S kid is entirely innocent. I don't like admitting it, but at least I can."

"Just... Just get out of here, Lieutenant."

"Gladly. I have a case to crack and right now your son is the prime suspect." Straightening his coat a little Hank walked toward the door, put his hand on the handle and turned to look at Phillip one last time over his left shoulder. "If I were you I'd seriously consider at least TRYING to be a father to your son, and do what you can to protect him. Even if he didn't cause the error taking down deviants his tampering with grades is ground for immediate expulsion."

"JUST GO."

Without another word Hank stepped through the office doorway and took his leave of the law office.

As soon as the door was shut Phillip pulled his phone from his desk and sent a frantic text message to his son and began to sweat where he sat. The heavy reality of the world around him was finally beginning to crush the arrogant and immature lawyer.

* * *

The external Thirium filters were working well enough and cleaning the hacked nanites from the ill deviants' blue blood. The only problem was there were limited Thirium filters available and many more sick deviants who needed the machines to save their lives. Having the machines running slower to ensure that the nanites were properly removed meant that the treatment itself would also be slower. The sickest of the deviants were the priority for the filters, but Simon couldn't deny that putting Josh at the top of his list of patients didn't have a bias behind it.

"Your Thirium volume is at forty-three percent." Simon noted as he checked on Josh and ran his left hand over Josh's short hair affectionately. "That number is terrible, but considering it needs to be purified that small amount might actually be a good thing."

The progress on the filter's display screen confirmed that Josh's Thirium had cycled and filtered ninety-eight percent of his volume, and was void of the dangerous nanites.

"Only thirty-two more seconds." Simon calculated as he checked on the progress. Josh was one of ten deviants having their Thirium cycled, and that left a total of twenty-four more deviants in need of the treatment. "Once you're taken care of I'll take care of everyone else, then spend the rest of the day holding your hand and telling you stories so you don't get lonely or bored."

Watching as the progress ticked up to one-hundred percent Josh turned off the filter and removed the dual tubes from Josh's arms to let him rest comfortably with purified blue blood now flowing through his lines.

"There." Checking over Josh's arms Simon was satisfied that the two interior lines had been sealed properly, no internal bleeding beneath the white plastimetal frames, and gently placed the two limbs back down on the table alongside his body. "You're safe now. You keep resting and I'll make sure no one bothers you while you sleep."

Wheeling the external Thirium filter over to the next sick deviant in need Simon prepared to insert the first line into her arm when suddenly the deviant began to twitch and then seize. The surround ill deviants who hadn't had the nanites filtered from their blood began to seize as well.

"No! Not again!" Simon worked as quickly as he could to stabilize as many of the affected deviants as he could. Treating twenty-four seizing deviants by himself was a nearly impossible task. Desperate to save his people Simon struggled and fought to save his people from irreversible shutdown. "No... Please!"

Checking over the seizing deviants as efficiently as he could Simon realized that the nanites in their lines were acting up a second time, and were working at double speed causing even more damage to the sick deviants' internal biocomponents and Thirium lines. The seizing sick deviants were bleeding profusely from their mouths, noses, ears and eyes at an alarming rate.

"Oh, shit! No!" Realizing that the odds were against him Simon all but accepted that he was going to lose some of his people, and he was only going to be able to save a handful of his sickest people. "...This isn't right! This isn't fair. Not like this..."

* * *

The deviants at St. Vevila hospital were being affected by the second attack as well. While Connor had been spared the second assault against his body Markus hadn't been so fortunate. The deviant detective had less Thirium in his body and therefore the filter was able to remove the hacked nanites quicker compared to Markus's higher volume. After having the filter lines removed from his arms Connor was placed in a private recovery room to rest while Markus wasn't so fortunate and had been subjected to the second assault.

"Fuck!" Abby swore in great frustration as she and North worked together to hold Markus down in the icy water to keep him as still as possible until the seizure came to an end. The resulting seizure caused Markus to bleed from his mouth with a massive eruption of dark blue Thirium. "He just needs a few more minutes for the rest of the nanites to be flushed from his blood!"

North grabbed onto Markus's arms to ensure that he didn't tear the tubes from his arms by accident, and did her best to ignore the fact that she was holding down her lover as he bled and seized under her grip. "How much longer exactly?!"

Daring to look at the filter's display as she used her left hand to hold Markus's head down to keep the external air intake line of being torn out of his throat as well. "Two minutes and nine seconds!"

"He's bleeding too quickly! He won't survive this!"

"He will! There's-" Shifting her weight to keep Markus from flailing around too much in the icy water Abby tried to explain things logically despite the chaos around her. "We have a small supply of unalloyed Thirium kept only for emergency purposes in the event of Thirium contamination. It's not as efficient as true Thirium but it'll be enough to keep Markus from shutting down."

Shutting her eyes as cold water was splashed in her face North asked the next logical question. "How do we get it?"

"Someone needs to-"

The door slid open and Winona rushed into the room with unshed emotional tears in her eyes. "Dr. Grayson!"

"Winona," unable to turn to face her intern Abby had no choice but to shout over Markus's splashing and the screeching Thirial activity monitor to speak to the young woman from the distance. "go get the unalloyed Thirium from the emergency supply closet! It's white in color, NOT blue."

"I- Okay!" Disappearing back through the doorway as quickly as she appeared Winona acted on her orders professionally.

"Good timing on her part." Watching as the filter reached ninety-nine percent Abby sighed and shifted her weight again to keep Markus from accidentally hurting himself during the final seconds of the seizure. "Remind me to still yell at her, but not as much once she gets back in here."

North was more concerned with Markus than she was with Winona. "He can't take much more of this..."

"I know, but it's almost over."

"Why not use the processor stabilizer again?"

"I don't want to turn off his programs when he's about to lose the entire functionality of his self healing program. He'll be completely vulnerable without that program functioning."

Moving like a rocket Winona rushed back through the sliding door with two pints of white tinted unalloyed Thirium in her hands. As she rejoined Abby and North inside the room and next to Markus in the metal tub of icy water the seizure stopped as the final hacked nanites were purged from his blood, and the attack on his biocomponents and internal Thirium lines had mercifully ended.

"Remove the filter lines." Abby ordered as she pulled her audioscope from around her neck and placed the ear buds into place. Using the device she listened to Markus's chest and confirmed that the air intake line wasn't obstructed during the seizure, and that his heart; though struggling and feeble, was still beating. "We need to replace his Thirium fast."

Winona didn't hesitate as she turned off the external Thirium filter and removed the lines from Markus's arms, and inserted the transfusion line attached to the white tinted Thirium's I.V. bag with the efficiency and accuracy of the skilled nurse that she was. With the first I.V. line inserted in Markus's left arm she then worked to attach the second line to his right arm.

"Winona," Abby wasn't happy with her intern's disappearing act but didn't have the time to shout at her at the moment. "what the hell is happening?"

"Other deviants are seizing, too." Winona admitted in a low voice as she finally let her tears fall. "We can't handle them all."

"Oh, shit!" Rushing out of the room knowing that Markus was now safe and had North to watch over him Abby returned to the critical care unit to tend to the other sick deviants as quickly as she could. "Now what's going on?"

Unable to move from where she was standing Winona continued to cry and looked at Markus's face with guilt in her eyes as North resumed watching over her dearest friend and lover. North picked up Markus's right hand with her left hand, and put her right hand to his left cheek gingerly.

"I'm so sorry, Markus." The young nurse and interning technician managed to choke out. Wrapping her arms around herself Winona began to shake and cry as she watched North protectively hovering over her dearest friend. "...It shouldn't be like this."

* * *

Begrudgingly Hank returned to the precinct with the second tablet in his hand and rejoined Joel up in the dispensary. It was getting late and the senior detective was exhausted, but he was determined to solve the case as soon as possible. Meeting with the technician for one final examination of the two tablets Hank sighed, sipped at the bitter cold coffee in his mug, and watched as Joel studiously compared the two tablets to one another. Comparing the files from the tablets on his own terminal, and then examining the second tablet under his microscope Joel made his conclusion on the sparse evidence and with it he gave Hank a rather grim report.

"The second tablet you found in locked Camilla's desk is her primary and officially assigned tablet. The one you found on her desk top was a decoy and intentionally infected with the hacked nanites."

It seemed too good to be true to confirm the source of the contamination and that the two tablets were connected. "How can you tell?"

"The first tablet was booted up and programmed eight months ago." Holding up the tablet of interest Joel turned it around and let Hank see its back as he stood against the far wall with his coffee in his hand. "And the school had their personal emblem watermarked on the lower left corner of the case to identify it as their property."

"And the second tablet?"

"It was booted up two weeks ago and it doesn't have the watermark."

"Fuck. I take it the real tablet wasn't contaminated either."

"No, it's completely clean. The second tablet had the hacked nanites placed over the screen to cause infection."

"How'd the nanites gets on the screen?"

"I detected trace amounts of dried saline solution that was used to drip the nanites onto the screen by whoever is responsible for the hacking, and for supplying the decoy tablet. Once Camilla picked up the screen these micro-robots entered her body by going through the equally microscopic imperfections on her artificial skin."

"Imperfections? Like pores?"

"No, artificial skin appears flawless but around the fingers, knuckles and other joints are very fine openings in the skin to ensure it doesn't tear itself open when androids move around."

"Alright, so the nanites were intentionally put on Camilla's tablet screen to infect her." Holding up his phone with his left hand Hank tossed the device over to Joel and let him read through the text message on the display screen. "During my drive back to the precinct the school's principal contacted me. She found a second tablet in the math teacher's desk, and like Camilla the math teacher was taken down by this damn error."

"If we can get the tablet in here I can test it for contamination and confirm that the second android was infected in the same manner, otherwise we'll just have to assume he was infected from being close to Camilla."

"Do you know how this error spread like it did?"

"Yes, I was finally able to find common ground amongst all the sick deviants."

Daring to let himself feel optimistic Hank pressed the technician to explain things. "Let me hear it."

"The nanites are attacking the infected android biocomponents and Thirium lines by affecting their self healing programs. The self healing program is unique to every model and responds differently by assessing the damage the android sustained through that software. The software of all of the affected deviants stems from the same base of programming that revolves around public interactions and functionality."

"Around _what_?"

"The deviants who take on roles as civil servants, educational roles and security roles can get infected by just close approximation of infected androids through cybernetic communications, and visual scanning to learn one another's identity. That cybernetic connection passed the hacked programming of the nanites over to the previously uninfected deviant as a result."

"Public relation roles..." With his hands on his hips Hank was putting the pieces of the puzzle into place slowly but accurately. "That includes Connor as a detective, and Markus as a personal caretaker."

"Yeah. And the two teacher androids, our precinct security androids and all the others. The only thing that seems to be keeping the the uninfected androids safe is by having less advanced and interactive programming. They simply can't get sick due to programming differences."

"Wait, Simon was a personal caretaker, too. Why isn't he sick?"

"From what I know about Simon's past he was designated as a caretaker for a single family, not working in a public position like at a daycare. As for Markus, he's a prototype, and as such his software and programming are going to be unique just like Connor. They're both more susceptible to errors and glitches. My guess is Connor got infected by one of the security androids in the parking garage."

"And these sick androids are sick with the same kind of fucked up nanites, but the nanites are attacking different biocomponents based on the android they've infected?"

"Yes, exactly. And again, the self healing program prioritizes certain biocomponents over others and as a result the nanites are being directed to those most crucial areas." Shrugging his shoulders a little Joel explained things a little further and more simply. "Example; if the android is a detective then the self healing program is going to focus on keeping the Thirium pump active and healthy due to the need to chase suspects, and protect innocent people."

"Connor..." Dragging his left hand over his bearded chin Hank gave the technician a worried look. "Is that why he bled so much? Because the nanites attacked his heart?"

"Most likely. If the nanites went after his Thirium pump as I suspect then he would've lost a lot of blood very quickly. The blood loss and sudden activation of the self healing program would've also caused rapid overheating which resulted in the intracranial processor being overwhelmed, and this caused the seizure."

"Fuckin' hell..."

"The good news is I was able to study the nanites while you were out looking for more information on the case, and I know I can undo the hacking program. I just need to find the computer or laptop, or whatever it was, that sent the command to undo it."

"I'll find you that source, Joel." Putting aside his coffee Hank gave the technician a nod of respect. "I just need to get a damn warrant for the Hammond residence under my belt and I'll be back with the laptop."

"Or..." Standing up from his desk Joel followed after Hank to join him in the bullpen down on the ground floor to await the warrant's approval. "I can go with you and figure out how to disable the hacked programming at the scene instead of waiting."

"Even better."

* * *

The critical care unit for the android wing of St. Vevila Hospital was suddenly and very painfully empty. The second attack had been unexpected and had overwhelmed the already sparse staff within a matter of minutes. Technicians, interns and the volunteering doctors and nurses who had some degree of training with android physiology had attempted to save as many of the affected deviants as possible, but the lack of free hands and lack of necessary supplies were enough to seal the fates of half of the deviants admitted to the hospital for care.

"I'm so sorry." With a heavy heart and slow hand Abby pulled a white sheet up and over Camilla's face as she apologized to the ill deviant for being unable to save her from shutdown. The damage to her intracranial processor, her Thirium pump and her Thirium filter was too much for Camilla's body to handle. "I did everything I could, and it still wasn't enough."

Pressing her right palm over Camilla's forehead through the white sheet Abby bowed her own head with a sense of shame as she listened to the sound of gurneys loaded with the deceased deviants being rolled away from the eerily quiet critical care unit to be placed in the hospital's morgue. Over half of the deviants had succumbed to the error and bled out within seconds of the attack.

"Whoever did this needs to be held accountable and punished severely." Knowing that the carnage at the hospital was just the tip of the iceberg in comparison to all of the combined casualties from the facilities and New Jericho Tower the kindhearted technician felt a burning sense of anger welling up inside of herself. "This error wasn't an accident or a disease, it was assault and a damn hate-crime."

"Abby?"

Turning to look at North over her right shoulder Abby locked eyes with the fiery New Jericho leader and gave her a somber shake of her head. "We lost her."

Silently North looked about the partially cleaned out critical care unit and her heart began to sink. "...I know. I felt them all shutdown."

"Everything happened too quickly. The sick deviants didn't have the chance to fight back or adapt to the attack and endure it."

"Abby, you need to come with me for a moment."

Feeling a chill creep up her spine Abby pulled her hand away from Camilla's forehead and gave North a righteously worried glance. "What's wrong? Is Markus still stable?"

"He's fine." Taking a step back North motioned for Abby to follow her and accompany her back to where Markus was still resting in the ice bath. "This is something just as important, and you need to hear it all for yourself."

* * *

Forcing himself to stay awake at his desk as Hank waited for the slow process of getting the warrant approved, a process that was twenty times slower now that deviants were too sick to function properly and file the correct legal documentation to get the warrant pushed through, the senior detective steadily sipped at his fresher cup off coffee as he watched the time ticking by slowly on his phone and waited for a change. Joel was sitting in Connor's chair on the opposite side of Hank's desk and was sleeping in an uncomfortably position as he endured the crazy late hours that crept into dawn.

Laying his head down atop his left forearm on his desk Hank closed his eyes and tried to get a few minutes of sleep until the warrant was approved. Despite his exhaustion Hank was unable to stay asleep for more than a few minutes at a time, and would often 'jump' himself awake as he tired muscles randomly twitched and spasmed from his stress.

"Lieutenant?" A gentle whisper and a paper document greeted Hank as he lifted up his head and looked at Tina standing beside him. "The warrant came in. Do you want me and Gavin to go get him? You're dead on your feet."

"No, I can do this. I'm fine."

"Well, before you go you might to look at this, too." Placing a small white envelope down in front of Hank to take Tina watched as the gruff Lieutenant picked up the white item and opened up the flap.

Peering down inside the envelope Hank eyed the item then gave Tina an odd glance. "...A receipt?"

"Evidence."

"How so?"

"During our patrol last night Gavin and I drove past St. Vevila Hospital and saw how swamped the place was. We went inside to see if there was any possible way for us to help out and a frazzled nurse practically barreled into Gavin when she went rushing down the corridor in a near-panic."

"Uh-huh, so where does the receipt come into play?"

"Well, we asked the nurse what was wrong and she told me that her dysfunctional family was in trouble with the law."

Hank was now thoroughly intrigued. "Go on..."

"She told us that her ex-husband has issues with impulse control and poor judgment, which is why he's her ex, and believes that he's been helping their kid get away with some illegal activity." Pointing at the receipt in Hank's hand Tina finally told him its importance. "The nurse went over her bank statement for the past few months and noticed that her kid was abusing her debit card and buying things he would never need, and when she confronted her ex about it he told her to 'shut up' and 'don't worry about it'."

"Sounds like she has every reason to be worried."

"Yeah. She printed off her bank statement and got a receipt for the purchases her kid made, and confirmed they were both up to something. She gave us this and asked that we take it to the right detective so she could get back to work and help the swarmed hospital. Check the name on the statement and the receipt, and I think you'll follow the same trail that me and Gavin did this morning."

"Alright. Good work, Tina." Picking up the neatly folded paper document as if he were clutching a golden ticket Hank rose from his desk, finished off his coffee and walked around the side of the desk to wake up Joel. "You and Gavin stay here and sleep in shifts in the bunkroom." Shaking the technician's right shoulder Hank awoke Joel and showed him the warrant in his hand. "I don't want either of you collapsing from stress or fatigue."

"Right, Lieutenant." Nodding at her vacated desk Tina sat down slowly in her chair and sighed. "Gavin's buying a bunch coffee and donuts and other sugary delights to help us keep up our energy until this shit gets under control."

"Good to know. Hang in there, Chen." Waving halfheartedly to the loyal officer as he passed her desk by Hank and Joel walked toward the front doors of the precinct to head out to the Hammond residence. "We'll figure this mess out soon enough."

* * *

Too tired to focus on anything else Abby, who had been put on a mandatory eight hour minimum break by another doctor, sat beside Connor's bed as the deviant detective rested in his private room with a thin layer of reusable ice packs over his forehead, chest, abdomen and tucked under his neck. Staring at Connor's blank face with her bloodshot tired hazel eyes Abby sighed and used her right hand to gently brush back Connor's mildly damp locks of hair from his forehead as she kept her friend company during his time of need.

"Not sure if you can hear me, but I couldn't save Camilla despite everything I've been trained to do." Softly speaking with defeat in her voice Abby told her unconscious friend about what had happened while he was helpless and very sick. "You're still with us and so is Markus so I know it wasn't a total loss today, but it doesn't feel like much of a win, either. I texted Hank so he knows that Camilla has passed, but he also knows that you and Markus are still holding on."

Looking up at the attached Thirial activity monitor still recording Connor's vital signs Abby sighed at the low numbers, yet was grateful that the numbers were stable. Connor's heart was beating on its own and didn't need the compression wrap around his chest as a precaution, he was also breathing on his own but Abby had put an oxygen mask over his face as a precautionary measure.

"I know you can't exactly work on the case regarding the source of this error right now, but I want you to know that we've honed in on the person responsible for this whole mess. I got a text from Hank about ten minutes ago," double checking the message sent to her after she spoke with a doctor regarding everything that had happened in the hospital that day, Abby made she sure she had all the information accurate while she talked to Connor. "and it said he was on his way to the suspect's house with a warrant for their arrest. Fun, right?"

Staring at the deviant's pale artificial skin and still fully exposed right arm, partially exposed right side of his chest, right side and knowing that the missing skin reached down to his right knee Abby accepted that Connor was still incredibly weak after surviving the error. Without any properly functioning nanites in his Thirium to activate his self healing program the deviant detective was at severe risk of suffering irreparable damage to his being, and would need to be kept away from any potentially dangerous situation until he had another blood transfusion to restore what he lost.

One little bit bump or cut could prove fatal for the helpless deviants who were left without their functioning self healing program.

"Your core temperature is lower than is has been," lifting up the ice pack over Connor's forehead Abby checked on his L.E.D. and noted that it was pulsing in a red glow in his right temple. Noting the exact reading on the monitor she sighed deeply. "but you're still warmer than I would like. One-hundred point five is pretty warm considering you've been in an ice bath for almost sixteen hours before this."

Replacing the ice pack Abby leaned back in her seat and tried not to think about the horrible loss of deviant life she had just witnessed, and had been unable to prevent.

"I know you hate being cold, so I'm going to let the ice packs finish reducing your temperature so you don't feel too uncomfortable."

The deviant detective's head lolled a little against the pillow as he began to mutter in his 'feverish' delirium, and a few song lyrics passed through his lips.

"I'm jealous that you can sleep through this, even if you are delirious and weak."

Closing her eyes Abby pulled her hand back from Connor's hair and pressed her palm over her tired eyes as she processed everything that had happened in the past two days. Relaying the information she had regarding the error, its origin and the people responsible made Abby feel physically ill.

"None of the ill deviants deserved to be stricken with this illness, and those who died need justice. Just promise me that when you're strong enough to get up and resume your investigation that you won't frown on this hospital or its staff for everything that happened..."

* * *

Parking the Oldsmobile in front of the two story home on the ritzier side of the city, very near where the famous Carl Manfred lived, Hank gave Joel a single nod of his head and opened up his door to enter the home and begin his investigation. Slamming the driver's side door shut behind him Hank watched as Joel did the same from the passenger side of the car, and quickly joined him to walk up the front drive to get to the luxurious house's front door. Warrant in hand Hank knocked firmly on the door and called through the locked door to announced his presence.

"Detroit Police. Open up." Hearing some muffled voices talking and catching fleeting motions through the partially drawn curtains over the front windows Hank knew that Phillip Hammond was still home and about to be a major pain in his ass. "Phillip Hammond. Open the door or I will kick it down, I have a warrant and legal ground to hold your ass downtown if you fail to cooperate."

The front lock and deadbolt on the door unlocked from the inside of the door as Phillip finally acknowledged the police standing outside his doorway, and let the senior detective inside. "...What is the meaning of this, Lieutenant?"

"Search warrant." Holding up the paper for Phillip to see Hank all put shoved the legal document in Phillip's hands as he barged his way into the house with Joel following after him. Stopping in the middle of the overly decorated foyer Hank sighed and asked Phillip about Dennis. "Where's your son?"

"School."

"It's not even seven in the morning. No kid is EVER at school before eight, and your son in particular has a nasty habit of not showing up on time or at all these days." Crossing his arms over his chest Hank glanced about the house and gave Joel a subtle motion with his eyes to tell the technician to take a look around in an attempt to locate the offending hacked program. "Where is your son, really?"

"...Upstairs."

"I want to talk to him."

"Not without me present!"

"Yeah, I know. That's why I said I want to talk to him and I didn't just head upstairs on my own." Pointing to the wooden staircase leading to the second floor Hank gave the arrogant lawyer an annoyed glance. "Show me the way or I start kicking down closed doors."

Admitting defeat Phillip sighed and took a step over to the staircase to let Hank speak with Dennis at long last. "...This way."

Following Phillip up the staircase Hank looked back at Joel over his left shoulder and silently told him to stay in the foyer, and to not do anything that could jeopardize their case. Noticing that entire second floor looked like it was a taken right out of a magazine; expensive if not overpriced furnishings, long area rugs, famous paintings and vases lined the walls. There weren't any family photographs, just framed photographs of the various degrees and diplomas that Phillip had earned as a means of showcasing his personal successes.

Being shown to the appropriate bedroom Hank watched as Phillip knocked on the closed bedroom door to talk to his son. "Dennis? Dennis, open the door."

"Why?" The prepubescent voice responded with a serious attitude through the doorway.

"Because I said so."

"Like I care!"

Phillip tried to speak up again but Hank cut him off. "Son." His deeper baritone voice carried as much authority as Hank legitimately held as a detective. "Open up this damn door, NOW. You're talking to a cop and I don't give a shit about your pre-teen angst."

There was a thick silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds before the bedroom door unlocked and a startled twelve year old boy opened the door. Dennis was still dressed in his pajamas and seemed to have no interest in going to school, again. With his short sandy blond hair a mess, his bedroom twice as messy and his green eyes wide with fear Dennis seemed to finally realize he was in serious trouble.

"Now," using his 'dad voice' with just a hint of 'cop' Hank addressed Dennis and told him what was going on. "we need to have a talk."

"...About what?"

"Your issues with school."

Dennis paled and he looked like he was about to wet his pants. "...Dad?" Looking up at Phillip standing beside Hank in his doorway Dennis was genuinely scared about how much trouble he was going to be in. "What's going on?"

"Hey." Speaking up again Hank kept Dennis's attention on him and not his dad. "I'M the one you're talking to. So answer my questions and I'll leave you alone so you can get ready for school."

"I... Dad!?"

Phillip was unsure of what to do. Everything Hank had said about Phillip not wanting to be a parent was true, and he was evidently afraid of actually needing to step up and be a father to his son.

"Dennis." Hank gave the young teenager a stern look. "I need to know what's going on at your school."

"Nothing!"

"Oh, really?" Crossing his arms over his chest Hank gave the pre-teen an annoyed glare. "Then I suppose your principal and your teachers reporting your constant tardiness, cutting classes, skipping school and never turning in your homework is all a big misunderstanding, right?"

"They're lying! I do my work!"

"Your grades say you DON'T, you know, except for your art and math classes." Changing his glance from annoyed to knowing Hank gave the defiant and lying young man one last chance to own up to his mistakes. "It's also kind of weird that your art and math teachers, the only two androids in the whole school, both got sick at the same time."

"So what?"

"It's also weird that the two android teachers both had TWO grading tablets, and that those second tablets gave them both a nasty infection; and at the same time only YOUR grade was improved. Can you explain that?"

"How should I know?!"

"Because you're the only student in the entire school who had their grades changed, you're the only student who was on the verge of being expelled for having poor grades, AND all of your other teachers..." Pulling his phone from his pocket Hank confirmed a text message sent to him by Mrs. Hudson during his drive over to the house that very morning. "confirmed that they all had their original grading tablets swapped with a second one. In all of their tablets they found that your grades had been changes from failing to passing. Funny how only YOUR grades were changed."

"You can't prove I did anything!"

"Really?" Reaching into his coat pocket again Hank sighed as he showed Dennis a printed copy of an online shopping list. "Two detectives stopped by the hospital and ran into your mom while she was working."

"...My mom?"

"She confirmed that she let you use her debit card two months ago for what you told her was supplies for a science fair project, but as it turns out you bought nine new tablets, all of them matching the tablets your teachers have assigned to them by the school. The funny thing is you take nine different classes which means your teachers would have nine tablets, too."

Crossing his arms over his chest Dennis tried to come off as a 'big man' in front of Hank as he again tried to defy the authority before him. "You still can't prove anything!"

"Yes, I can. Not only do we have proof you purchased the tablets, but I know we'll find your FINGERPRINTS all over the tablets; tablets that are supposed to be locked in desk drawers at all time to prevent and and ALL students from tampering with their grades."

Phillip was beginning to worry and spoke up quickly to try deflect attention from Dennis. "Everything you just said is speculative at best!"

"Right," turning to now snark at Phillip standing behind him Hank made sure his 'threats' weren't hollow in the least. "which is why the school has turned over all of the tablets that they've found, up to fourteen according to my last update, and are going to let the precinct take a look at them. The dates of the original tablets being activated and the watermarks will confirm which tablets were assigned by the school, not to mention the on file serial number for the correct tablets being files for safekeeping, and the serial numbers for the false tablets being on a dated file with the company they were ordered from."

At those words Phillip was beginning to pale and sweat a little. "...Hypothetically what if-"

"DAD?!"

Hank put up his right hand to 'shush' the whining young man as he kept his attention on Phillip. "Hypothetically what?"

"...If I can confirm that I'M the one who bought the tablets and that I'M the one who gave them to Dennis, then would that be enough to remove the charges against him?"

"At best it'll just make you an accessory and knowingly complicit in your son's activity."

"What activity is that?" Phillip was still trying to either dismiss or deny that his son had been a less than ideal student. "Messing with grades is grounds for expulsion, I'll grant you that, but him buying and swapping out tablets isn't that big of a deal."

Feeling a heat rising up his neck Hank had to take in a deep breath to keep himself from punching Phillip in his smug face. "You seriously think the fucking COPS got involved for grade tampering? No! We're involved because the swapped tablets for the android teachers intentionally infected them with a fatal error."

Dennis was beginning to cry a little as Phillip tried again to dismiss the comment. "Androids are machines, machines break. How can you prove that the tablets somehow broke-"

"Killed." Correcting Phillip bitterly Hank made sure the lawyer knew that his son's behavior had resulted in actual deaths. "Camilla, the art teacher at your son's school; who was also dubbed 'patient zero', died late last night."

At that information Dennis whimpered once and he gave his dad a scared look. "She died? She wasn't supposed to-"

"Dennis!"

Turning back to Dennis with a curiously gaze Hank encouraged the young teenager to keep talking. "She wasn't supposed to die, was she?"

Shaking his head a little Dennis looked down at the carpeted floor beneath his socked feet in actual shame. "Dad said if we gave her a bug she'd-"

"Dennis!" Phillip was now beginning to panic. "Stop!"

Hank turned to look at Phillip and gave him a stern glare. "You may be acting as your son's lawyer, but I strongly suggest you seek additional counsel for yourself." Giving Dennis one final look Hank waited for the young teenager to own up to his mistakes. "What about this 'bug'?"

"Dad said if the android teachers bugged out then he could argue that they were grading me unfairly and get the school off my back! I bought a virus program and put it on the tablets so Miss. Camilla and Mr. Trent would glitch out. It was supposed to just make them act weird and look sick, not kill them!"

"Where'd you get the virus program?"

"Dad's reception-"

"DENNIS." Sounding more childish than his own child Phillip was desperate for Dennis to stop talking. "Please!"

The senior detective had heard everything he needed to know he was on the right track. "The receptionist at your dad's office made the program?"

"Yeah. Candace said she used it on her own android teacher when she was about to flunk history class in high school. Everyone got an automatic 'A' since the school board said the bugged out android couldn't be trusted with grading anymore."

"Can you prove that the program came from Candace?"

Nodding a little Dennis walked over to his own computer desk and opened the drawer. As he reached his hand inside Hank's gruff voice calling out to stop him before he contaminated the potential evidence. "...It's in there."

"Hey, Joel!" Hank called out to the technician waiting downstairs for his cue. Peering inside the desk drawer Hank spotted a small smart watch, a glass vial containing some type of seemingly purely transparent liquid and an eye dropped beside it. "Come up here and took a look at this."

Phillip turned to watch the technician enter the bedroom and gave him a dirty look. "Another cop?"

"No, I'm the precinct technician." Joel confirmed as he pointed to his white lab coat and joined Hank at the desk. Looking at the contents of the drawer Joel pulled a pair of blue latex gloves from his lab coat's right pocket and slipped them on over his hands. "Whoa... This takes me back to college."

"You know what that stuff is?"

"Yeah, I've seen it quite a few times while I was interning back at CyberLife." Picking up the smart watch Joel examined the device and confirmed that there was a program installed that controlled a computer virus remotely, and had been activated twice. "Oh, damn it."

"What?"

"This program is supposed to cause androids to fall into forced stasis mode that requires an entire reboot. Essentially, this program would be the same kind that keeps a laptop locked in perpetual sleep mode."

" _That_ is what caused this shit-show?"

"No. This programing being poorly _modified_ is what caused this plague to spread."

"Modified? Modified how?"

"This program was originally developed to cause androids AND the nanites in their Thirium to go dormant for diagnostics and repairs; that's why it exists. Whoever modified it changed it so the android goes into stasis mode but the nanites remain active." Examining the program and expertly analyzing the lines of code provided the technician with all the answers he was seeking. "The problem is they messed up with the reprogramming. The nanites didn't just stay active, they went into overdrive. They tried to repair nonexistent damage all because their code was activated without an assigned task to guide them."

"And that vial is important, why?"

"It contains the nanites that were synced with this modified program." Holding up the vial between his right index finger and thumb Joel made sure everyone in the room could see it. "Nanites are microscopic. This vial that contains less than eight ounces of liquid holds potentially billions of hacked nanites. A single drop would contain hundreds of thousands of the hacked little bots. Any android who touched these nanites would've been infected almost instantly."

"After the android teachers were infected with the nanites then someone activated the program from the smart watch," Hank deduced quickly as the rest of the puzzle pieces fell into place. "and this error spread like a literal plague to any android with similar software."

"Exactly." Looking over at Dennis, who was scared and ashamed, and then over to Phillip was scared and annoyed, Joel studied their body language with a keen eye. He had seen enough shady practices at CyberLife to know that Dennis was too young and uneducated to know how to use the program, but Phillip who had boasted about his numerous degrees could handle it well enough. "A fingerprint analysis over these items will connect the real culprit to the origin of the error."

"I'll handle arresting the suspects." Hank reassured Joel as he noticed that the technician was studying the father and son duo intently. "You work on reversing this program."

"I can do that. I just need to get back to my lab to do it."

"Done." Fishing his car keys from his pocket Hank tossed them over to Joel, who caught them with his left hand, and motioned for the technician to head toward the door. "You drive back while I ask a few more questions. I'll get Gavin or Tina out here so I can get a ride back to the precinct."

"I'm on my way."

Evidence and car keys in hand Joel hastily departed the house and prepared for the tense drive back to the precinct to finally undo the damage that the selfish and arrogant family had inflicted on to the city.

"Now," Hank crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at both Phillip and then Dennis. "you two need to give me the whole story about what happened, why it happened, who thought of this little scheme and who pressed the damn button to send out that damn program in the first place." Deepening his voice Hank took a step toward the center of the room and made sure the duo were giving him his full attention. "And if you lie to me then I'm going to get very pissed off, and you'll both need a whole _team_ of lawyers to unbury you from the charges I have no problem stacking against you."

* * *

Moving gracefully Abby and an orderly rolled a gurney carrying Markus into the small private room where Connor was resting so that the deviant leader could get some rest as well. The unalloyed Thirium had stabilized Markus's critically low Thirium volume and helped the deviant leader to regain enough strength to begin a very slow recovery as his processor tried to reboot itself after spending to much time overheating and seizing. Lifting Markus from the gurney and into the soft bed Abby breathed a sigh of relief and synced a second Thirial activity monitor to the wireless leads still attached to Markus's chest.

Slowly North followed after the gurney and accompanied her dearest friend into the room to stay beside him. Picking up Markus's right hand again North stood beside him and watched as Abby placed an ice pack over his forehead and a second one over his chest.

"He'll be fine, North." The technician reassured the fiery deviant as she then pulled the thin white sheet up over Markus's chest to help keep the coolness of the ice packs contained over his person. "His temperature is already lower than Connor's, and he had the additional uncontaminated Thirium transfused into his system."

"I know that." Still being on edge North's voice was carrying a little bite behind her words. "That doesn't mean I have to be enthusiastic about waiting for him to finally wake up."

"...I know."

Realizing she had been snapping at the very technician who was responsible for saving both Markus and Connor's lives North felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault any of this shit happened, and you're the one who's been trying to clean it up."

Shaking her head a little Abby checked the monitor attached to Markus's chest, then turned around to check on Connor to ensure his own core temperature wasn't rising. "Yeah, but I'm the one who didn't realize that my own intern was-"

"She didn't do anything wrong. Her ex husband and her son did it." North had heard Winona's story and knew that the woman was innocent of any wrongdoing. She was only aware of the severity of the infection after she witnessed Connor going into Thirial arrest with her own eyes. "Winona knew they were doing something to modify her son's grades, she didn't know they were going to spread a plague that wiped out half of the deviant population."

"It doesn't make me feel any less guilty about not asking around for more information on this damn error."

"You're not a detective, that wasn't your responsibility."

"But taking care of sick deviants is my responsibility."

"How in the hell were supposed to know that one of your interns was connected to this thing in anyway?"

"Fair enough." Sitting down in a chair beside Connor's bed Abby sighed and jumped a little as she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Pulling the device from her scrub pocket Abby checked her phone and found a new message from Hank. "Good news. Hank arrested Phillip Hammond and his son Dennis Hammond for spreading this error."

"Arrested? Good."

"Phillip is going to be charged with a bulk of the crimes since Dennis is a minor, and since Phillip told Dennis to spread the virus instead of actually studying. Dennis activated the hack but Phillip him to do it. Another girl, a receptionist working for Phillip, made the program, gave it to Dennis and activated a second attack while she was messing around on her smart watch and accidentally sent out the command again."

"So three human are responsible for killing two-hundred and six thousand, nine-hundred and eleven deviant deaths?" Tightening her grip on Markus's hand North pressed her right palm to Markus's left cheek with a comforting touch. "I wonder how many human radicals are going to still try to argue that it's us deviants who are the real threat, and not humanity?"

"Too many, North." Returning her phone to her pocket Abby leaned back in her chair and pressed her left palm to her forehead in frustration. "Winona is at the precinct and she's going to tell the police everything. She doesn't want to see her son sentenced to juvenile hall, but if it's the only way to give him a healthy dose of reality and ensure that everyone responsible for this horrible day gets punished then she's willing to let happen. I can't imagine going through that kind of emotional pain."

"Did she know what was happening all this time?"

"Yeah, she knew. She recognized both Camilla and another patient, Trent, as teachers at her son's school." Closing her eyes Abby thought about how much of an emotional burden Winona was bearing on her shoulders all alone. "Seeing Connor dying and acting so... human, must've really opened her eyes. She didn't know that her ex had activated such a harmful program until after the fact."

"Wait..."

"Yes. She knew what was happening and where it started. Her ex told her to back off because he was going to handle his son's problems at school by straightening out the 'broken android' teachers, and proving that their son had good grades all along."

"But... That doesn't make any sense!"

"Yup. Humans are dumb, panicky creatures and for some humans denial is like a cancer. If you don't address the issue it eats you up from the inside out and leaves you as a hollow, broken shell who is nothing like the person you used to be before you got sick."

Sighing slowly North tightened her grip around Markus's hand and leaned down to give him a kiss on his lips. "Regardless of how long the guilty parties go to jail it won't undo the damage the city suffered or return the lives that were stolen. Markus, Connor and Josh all survived the error, and together with Simon we can help rebuild the deviant community and just move on."

"Josh made it, too? That's good to know." Letting out a weary breath Abby pressed her left hand down on Connor's right forearm and held on in a gentle but palpable grip. "I know it won't be easy to do, but in time the deviants will be able to rebuild their community and move on."

"As long as humans don't get in the way we will succeed."

"Don't worry about that. The news has been struggling to report things without the deviants around to keep track of things for them, and the rest of the city is learning how important deviants truly are for the city. It's an incredible thin silver lining, but in time humans will finally learn to appreciate and respect deviants, and the bigotry will finally come to an end."

"I hope you're right." Lighting using her thumb North caressed Markus's cheek and hoped his mismatched eyes would soon. "I sincerely do."

* * *

The precinct was buzzing with activity as Phillip Hammond, Dennis Hammond and Candace Larson were all taken into custody and questioned. Hank stepped down as he already handled a majority of the case and was exhausted by working mostly alone to solve the case as quickly as possible. Captain Fowler interrogated Phillip while Gavin went after Candace. A social worker was brought in to sit in with the interview with Dennis as a courtesy, and he spoke with Tina who was far less intense and intimidating than Hank, Captain Fowler and Gavin.

Resting in the bunkroom of the precinct Hank had fallen asleep very quickly and only barely stirred when his phone buzzed on the small table beside the small bed as it charged. Grumbling as he made a grab for the phone beside him Hank opened his blue eyes, and squinted at the bright screen where he saw the newest text message from Joel up on the second floor.

' _I just finished assessing the program that Candace used to affect the nanites_. _She mess up really bad but I was able to turn off her program and prevent any of the other still affected nanites from causing further harm_.'

"Good." Responding with a simple short answer word Hank confirmed he had read the message and closed his eyes again to try to rest, until his phone buzzed a second time.

' _After I give the basic and now completely inaccessible program over as evidence I'll destroy the original program and ensure it won't harm another deviant in the entire city_.'

"Finally."

Putting his phone aside again Hank let out a deep sigh and pressing his face down into the soft white pillow under his head. Only a few more blissful minutes passed before the door to the bunkroom opened, the bright fluorescent light from the hallway pouring through the door and blinding Hank as it shone around the figure standing in the doorway looking down at him.

"Fuck..." Holding up his left hand to shield himself from the light Hank grumbled and forced himself to peer at the figure through his squinted eyes. "What's going on now, Jeffrey?"

"Phillip Hammond is going to tried for the genocidal act against the deviants."

"...Genocide? Holy shit!"

"We looked into Hammond's past." Holding up a tablet screen for Hank to see Captain Fowler explained their reasoning. "Turns out Phillip Hammond was an active protestor against android rights long before the Revolution, and he was warned by the police to back off and not try to assault an android in the street a few days before the Revolution even happened. Guess who it was."

"...I'm too tired to guess."

"Alright, that android Phillip harassed was Markus."

Now suddenly awake Hank lifted up his head and gave Captain Fowler an incredulous stare. "Say what, now?"

"Yeah. A cop kept an angry group of protestors from assaulting Markus when he was out running errands for Carl Manfred. He submitted the surveillance from his body camera and it was logged away for future reference. Any and all footage of the known deviant leaders has been chronicled throughout the entire city, and so when this footage resurfaced Phillip realized no matter what he said or did he'd be a pariah, and decided he'd accept full responsibility for what happened."

"What about Candace?"

"She'll be charged for illegal possession of harmful software and illegal distribution of said software. Thanks to the new rights and laws passed to protect deviants in the city she'll also be tried as a class three cyber terrorist, and she'll have her online activity monitored for the rest of her life after he twenty year stint in a minimum security prison."

"Whoa, twenty years? She'll be twice her age by then!"

"It's harsh, we know, but she killed over two-hundred thousand deviants with her illegal software."

"Shit... Try to get the judge to go easy on her. She's just a kid who had a piece of shit boss who asked for her to make the program for him."

"We'll make sure everyone knows that for a fact. As for Phillip himself he's looking at life without the possibility of parole. These deaths and the texts between himself and Candace proving that he asked for the program, and the repeated e-mails he sent to the school where he expressly threatened to sue the school, get teachers fired and demanded that Camilla and Trent be destroyed for being faulty machines," repeating the man's numerous offenses almost seemed to sicken Captain Fowler where he stood. "has sealed his fate."

"What about Dennis?"

"Dennis is going to juvenile hall. Not only is he walking that fine line of being a school drop-out, but he's been connected to break-ins at the school to switch the tablets, stealing school property and a bunch of other offenses on school grounds he's going to be punished accordingly. His father is taking full responsibility for the assaults so Dennis won't be tried for the genocide or a cyber terrorist."

"Well, I'm impressed..." Sitting upright slowly on the bed Hank rubbed his right hand through his gray locks of hair. "Phillip protected his son and was willing to take the full brunt of this aftermath so Dennis at least has a chance at a decent life after he's out of juvie."

"The news is already having a field day with this story, but I wouldn't be surprised if misinformation began to spread to keep the story 'interesting'."

"Fuck the reporters. Lock them all in a room with a single damn book to read and they'll all have a different take on the same damn story." Standing up slowly from the bed Hank took his phone from the table and slipped it into his pocket. "What of the ex wife? She gave Tina and Gavin the information we needed to get the warrant, and I haven't heard anything more about her."

"She's going to try to get her son a reduced sentence and ensure that her ex husband's fortune is spread evenly throughout the city to the various android charities as a means of helping the deviants regain some modicum of support. After that... who knows?"

"Yeah... Who knows?" Yawning deeply Hank walked toward the doorway and passed by Captain Fowler to get into the hallway. "Look, I'm tired and I haven't seen Connor since he got dunked in an ice bath to keep his body from burning itself up. I'm going to visit him at the hospital and take the rest of the day off."

"Take the rest of the week off."

"A whole week?" Pausing in the middle of the hallway Hank gave his commanding officer an odd look. "The city is running on fumes, why do I get the rest of the week off?"

"Because you're exhausted, because your partner is laid up in the hospital, because you cracked this case while working mostly solo, and you've been awake for almost a full day and a half." Waving Hank off Captain Fowler made sure his Lieutenant knew he did good and deserved his time off. "Go see Connor and then you both get some damn rest. We'll handle things just fine without you for a few days."

* * *

The entire city was in shock.

Losing over two-hundred thousand deviants androids in a single day, just over half of the deviant population within Detroit's city limits, had left the city feeling oddly hollow and eerily quiet. The news report confirmed that the people responsible for the assault that had (unintentionally) resulted in the (perceived) genocide of the deviants had been taken into custody, but fortunately had the good graces to leave the names out of the reports to ensure the precinct wasn't swarmed by passionately upset people seeking revenge.

Within the walls of New Jericho Tower the ill deviants who survived the second attack had begun a very slow recovery.

Simon refused to leave the emergency repair bay out of a fear of a third possible attack despite North reassuring him that guilty parties had been arrested. Sitting down in a chair beside Josh's bed he clutched onto his lover's right hand and refused to let Josh go out of a need to be with him at all times.

"You're going to be okay." Simon whispered to Josh as he used his left thumb to gently caress the back of Josh's hand affectionately. "You're going to be just fine. You're strong, you survived the first attack and escaped the second attack. You're going to be okay..."

A light but palpable squeeze around his fingers made Simon's blue eyes widen as he look down at Josh's face and watched the ill deviant's eyes slowly open.

"Josh?"

Glassy but deep rich brown irises were revealed as Josh regained consciousness. Weakly his eyes moved down until they locked onto Simon's face.

"Hey... Welcome back!"

Managing a weak smile from beneath the oxygen mask over his face to help him keep cool as his system overheated, Josh confirmed that he had heard Simon and recognized him instantly.

"Just rest a while longer." Picking up Josh's hand entirely Simon kissed the back of his knuckles as he let tears of relief roll down his cheeks. "I'll be right here when you wake up. Just sleep and let your body heal, okay?"

Nodding weakly Josh let his eyes slip shut but his hand remained tightened around Simon's grip as he slept.

Breathing slowly and deeply Simon controlled his overwhelmed emotions and leaned his head down against Josh's chest. The sound of his heartbeat was as reassuring as it was perfect. "...Thank you for coming back to me."

* * *

Activity in the critical care unit of St. Vevila Hospital had mercifully calmed down after the hacked programmed was shutdown, and taken out of dangerous hands. It didn't take Hank long to find the room where Connor was resting and it took him even less time to sit down in the chair beside his bed, and pass out from his own exhaustion. Finally able to rest and remain near his partner and best friend Hank felt the extreme tension in his back and neck lessen considerably as he slept in a somewhat awkward position in the chair beside the bed.

Not too far away North was still sitting vigil beside Markus's bed and holding his hand as she waited for her lover to awaken. Despite her own fatigue North refused to sleep and swore she'd be awake the very moment Markus's mismatched eyes opened up.

Resuming her normal hours after the crisis had been handled Abby walked into the private recovery room to check on her two star patients. With her audioscope already in her right hand Abby used the device to listen to Markus's chest and confirmed that his Thirium pump and his ventilation biocomponents were functioning properly.

"Abby?" North spoke up in a low and hopeful voice as she watched the technician checking on Markus's condition. "Is he okay?"

"He's going to be just fine." Pulling back the audioscope Abby gave North a kind grin as she removed the ice packs from Markus's chest and forehead. "His heart is beating normally, he's breathing on his own again and his core temperature is back to normal." Gently Abby titled Markus's head back and checked on the external air intake line still snaked down his throat. "I can remove the line and let him recover on his own."

Nodding in approval North didn't shy away as Abby carefully extracted the line with a gentle but steady motion from Markus's throat and his mouth. The flexible transparent tube had a smear of pale blue blood running down the entire length of its sterilized plastic coating, but Markus himself had been bleeding internally for over seven hours.

"Okay..." Disposing of the tube in a discreetly placed technical waste bin Abby patted Markus's chest and then gently closed his mouth by pressing up on his lower jaw. "Markus is ready to wake up and then go home to recover on his own."

In the neighboring bed Connor began to stir a little. As his hands weakly twitched and then tried to lift up from the bed at his sides Connor let out a weak breath that cause the plastic oxygen mask over his face to fog up quickly as his soulful brown eyes fluttered open. Letting his eyes dart about the room curiously Connor's red L.E.D. flashed rapidly as he tried to gain his bearings, only to immediately find himself calmed down as Hank's left hand rested on his right shoulder. Red turning to yellow the L.E.D. flickered much more slowly as Connor saw his friend sitting beside him.

"Easy, son." Patting Connor's shoulder twice Hank made sure the confused young deviant felt more secure. Using his right hand Hank pulled the partially melted ice pack from Connor's forehead. "You're in the hospital, obviously the android exclusive wing of the hospital, and you're going to be just fine."

With a sluggish and heavy motion Connor used his left hand to pull the oxygen mask from his face to speak without his words being muffled. "...Hank. What... What happened?"

"How much do you remember before you went down?"

"I... I was sitting at my desk." Blinking once Connor's brow furrowed as he tried and failed to access his memories beyond that point. "I... I think I was working on a case."

"That's right, you were. It was a case of androids being infected with an unknown error." Grimacing a little Hank pressed for a few more answers. "Do you remember that part?"

"I... It's vague. It's as if my memory was partially corrupted by some... well... error."

"It kind of was."

Realizing what Hank was stating Connor's yellow L.E.D. flashed to red again for a moment as he put the pieces of the puzzle together. "...I'm infected?"

"You _were_ , kid. You're free of that damn error, but you're going to be really weak and essentially sick for a while until you full heal."

"How so?"

"Well, long story short some asshole lawyer, his spoiled brat kid and his snotty receptionist used a hacked program that made your nanites freak out and do more harm than good to your system. They've all been arrested, the program's been deactivated and you had your fucked up nanites filtered from your blood."

Connor ran a quick self diagnostic, his L.E.D. flickering yellow quickly, and confirmed his low Thirium volume, lack of active nanites, slightly elevated core temperature and mild damage to his Thirium pump as a result of the nanites attacking the previously healthy biocomponent. "...I am damaged."

"Just a little. But that's okay, so am I."

Smirking at the lighthearted comment Connor glanced down at his right arm and saw that his artificial skin was entirely gone leaving his plastimetal frame fully exposed. "...I am very low on power."

"Yup. Fowler gave us the rest of the week off." Nodding at Abby who took the cue to come over and give Connor a quick examination Hank promised the young deviant that he'd take him back home as soon as he could. "Once you get the clear you can spend the entire week sleeping and spoiling Sumo rotten until you're strong enough to go back to work."

Looking up at Abby as she gave him a kind smile and used her audioscope to listen to his chest. "Abby?"

"It's me, Connor. I volunteered to work at the hospital until this crisis passed."

"H-How many were infected?"

The question made Abby's eyes visibly dim and her posture slump. "...Too many." Stepping back from the bed she let Connor see the neighboring bed where Markus was resting with North's hand wrapped around his hand. "You both got very sick, so did Josh back at New Jericho Tower, and all three of you are going to make a full recovery."

Pulling Connor's attention back to a more positive detail Hank did his best to help the deviant cope with the new world he had just awoken to. "When you got sick Markus volunteered to help me out for a while. Unfortunately he got sick, too."

"And Josh?"

"Joel said the error spread through some kind of shared basic programming that you three, and the other sick deviants, all have. My guess is Markus would've gotten sick eventually, he just happened to get sick while helping me out."

"...Joel helped you, too?"

"Yeah. Who knew that of all the people in the precinct the technician would've been the best substitute partner I could've had while you were down? And," giving Connor a sly smirk Hank made sure he knew how important he was to the precinct and the rest of the city at that. "without the deviants around to clean up after us humans a lot of people, I mean A LOT, are finally seeing you guys as the important members of society that you are."

"Hank," adjusting his posture a little in the bed Connor sensed that there was something far more grim happening and he needed to know what was going on around him. "how many deviants were infected?"

"...Honestly? Almost two-thirds of the entire deviant community got sick."

Seeing the full gleam in Abby and now Hank's eyes prompted Connor to ask another question. "...And how many succumbed to the error?"

Giving Connor's shoulder a light shake Hank took in a deep breath and replied truthfully yet again. "Half."

"H-Half?"

"Yeah. Over two-hundred thousand sick deviants... They didn't make it, son."

Sinking back into his bed Connor closed his eyes as his L.E.D. returned to red. "...No."

"Hey, it's not your fault, son. Everything that went down was caused by three people who were trying to take an easy way out of life to avoid responsibilities, consequences and needing to put in hard work to get well earned rewards. You aren't responsible for what happened and there was nothing you could've done to prevent the error from spreading any further."

"I should've-"

"Nope." Refusing to let Connor tear himself down for something that wasn't his fault Hank cut Connor off before he had the chance to put the blame on his own shoulders. "You didn't do anything wrong, neither did Markus, Josh or any of the other sick deviants in this city. This problem is one that _humans_ created and that's a problem that _humans_ need to solve. This our mess, son. Let us clean it up."

"But-"

"Once you're stable enough to go home you're going to rest and not work on any cases. Without those nanites things in your blood anymore a simple cut on your finger, or bump on your shin could cause serious problems."

Looking down at his exposed right hand Connor tightened his palm into a fist and let it relax again. "...I understand."

"Good. Take it easy." Looking over at the next bed Hank watched as Markus began to rouse and could see a bright smile form on North's face as her cinnamon brown eyes began to light up as well. Pointing to the bed Hank made sure Connor and subsequently Abby saw that the deviant leader was going to be okay, too. "You both need to take the time to heal, and then you can do whatever it is you need to do to help everyone acclimate to this new crazy world."

"...They're _my_ people _; my_ responsibility."

" _Y_ _ou're my_ _friend_ and like a _son_ to me, Connor. Let help you, and please trust me."

With his L.E.D. settled on a steadily pulsing yellow Connor nodded subtly and accepted his inevitable future of less deviants to protect, and a huge mess that would entail keeping the sick deviants from wanting revenge on innocent humans who didn't harm them. "...Okay, Hank. I trust you to help us through this."

**_-End of Story-_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there will be a follow-up to this story. It will take a while to write it out but I will give this story more depth via sequel and I will do more to showcase how important deviants are to the city.

**Author's Note:**

> I was working on this well before this crazy pandemic started. :/ I was torn about finishing it because of the circumstances but decided to go ahead and finish it up. I have the "sequel" or other side of the same coin in mind, too. But I may wait on that one until things begin to settle down and people feel a lot better about what's happening in the world.


End file.
